A summer 2019 robbery at a small grocery store in Birmingham, Alabama, ended with the death of 35-year-old Roderick Wilson. Officers responding to a reported robbery identified Wilson as the suspect and an exchange of gunfire began. During the confrontation, Birmingham police officer Cullen Stafford was struck multiple times; his bulletproof vest likely saved his life but he was left critically wounded and required surgery. The shooting continued as officers engaged the fleeing suspect and Wilson was fatally wounded.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office confirmed Wilson died of multiple gunshot wounds. Reports note Wilson had been arrested on more than half a dozen charges over the previous decade and had an arrest two weeks before the fatal incident; in 2017 he was accused of pulling a knife on sheriff’s deputies during an arrest. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation reviewed the officer-involved shooting.

Anyone who witnessed the robbery or the police response, or who knew Wilson, is asked to share information.