Girlfriend: Armed man shot by police had history of mental and physical struggles (2024)

GREENSBORO — According to his girlfriend, Gerald Pinckney’s long history of mental and physical health struggles likely motivated him to approach police while allegedly pointing a handgun Saturday morning, an action that led an officer to shoot and kill the 31-year-old outside of his apartment.

“I saw Gerald, and he had the gun drawn,’’ said Nia Darby, 28, who shared a Lawndale Avenue apartment with Pinckney whom she’d known since 2015.

“He was just suffering mentally and physically from all kinds of pain,’’ she said of Pinckney, who lost his leg in 2016 after another shooting incident, unrelated to police, she said. Details of that crime were not immediately available.

“He had been hurt before ... he still had bullets in his body ... and his mental health got the best of him, I think,’’ Darby said.

Pinckney had recently moved his father in to the couple’s apartment in order to better care for the 80-year-old, Darby said.

“With his father, he was always picking him up off the stairs and caring for him,” Darby said. “He would help anyone who needed it. Gerald was always ready to give. That’s why he took on the challenge of his dad’s care.’’

Disabled, Pinckney was struggling to find a job, Darby said. “He had been depressed and tired of being rejected from jobs and all the pain,” she said. "He always used to say that I brought light to his darkness.''

Saturday morning

Around 8:27 a.m. on Saturday, multiple officers went to the 3000 block of Lawndale Drive in response to reports of an “armed subject,’’ according to a news release from the Greensboro Police Department.

There, an officer said they saw Pinckney, displaying “what appeared to be a handgun,’’ the release said.

Darby confirmed Monday that Pinckney did own a handgun that he often carried for protection.

On Saturday, despite the officer’s “repeated commands” for Pinckney to drop the weapon, Pinkney allegedly “ignored those commands” walked toward the officer while displaying the weapon, the police news release said.

In response, the officer fired their gun and struck Pinckney, according to investigators.

The Greensboro Police Department’s Professional Standards Division is conducting an internal investigation, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the shooting, standard protocol for any officer-involved shooting in the state.

Police have not released the name of the officer involved, but officials said the officer has been placed on administrative duty during the investigation.

What Darby remembers

Darby said shortly before he was shot, Pinckney had come into their bedroom and told her the time was about 8 a.m.

Pinckney asked Darby for her car keys so he could get something from her car, Darby said. “Then I noticed he was outside smoking a cigarette, and I looked out and saw him in my car. Then I saw police pull up and I opened the screen to the upstairs balcony and asked, ‘What’s going on?’’’

Next, Darby slipped on her shoes and rushed outside. “That’s when I saw he had the gun drawn and was walking toward police. And then he was shot. It all happened so fast,’’ Darby said.

Police and EMS workers provided first aid to Pinckney but would not allow Darby near the scene, she said. Pinckney was transported to Moses Cone Memorial Hospital where he later died of his injuries, the news release said.

“They made me get away. But I could see he was losing a lot of blood,’’ Darby said.

Just after the incident, Darby gave police a statement at the scene, then she traveled to the police station where she gave a recorded statement and was interviewed by investigators for nearly four hours, she said.

“Then someone came into the room and told me Gerald had passed away,’’ said Darby, who said she had planned to marry Pinckney and have a family.

While Darby said she understands that the officer who shot her boyfriend likely feared for his life, she said, “I only wish they had shot him in a way that would not have been fatal.’’