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Base: Durham, North Carolina

Date/Time: December 7, 2004/0231 hours

Incident: On 12/7/2004, I responded to a burglar alarm at the Costco located in the North Pointe Shopping Center. Upon my arrival, I observed that the Employee Entrance located on the store's docking bay was open. There was no sign of Carmen F. the Night Watchman. I attempted to reach Mr. F. via his handheld radio which had a channel to Durham Police communications. Mr. F. did not respond to my attempts to contact him so I contacted dispatch and advised them I would need back up.

I went to the door and noticed immediately that it appeared to have been either wrenched or pulled off of its hinges. I could not see any pry marks on the door and initially believed that the door may have been pulled free via a truck or vehicle. I entered the store and did a sweep of the Employee Breakrooms, the Employee Bathrooms and the Security Office. I could not find Mr. F. or anyone else.

Officer O. and Officer B. arrived on scene at 0239 hours. We agreed to conduct a sweep of the store before resetting the alarm. Officer O. searched the Produce section, Officer B. searched the General Grocery area, and I searched the Deli/ Meat Department. Officer O. contacted me to say that he had found an activated flashlight and Mr. F.'s radio. He also advised that he had found what may have been blood.

I began searching the butcher's area of the store and found a large amount of blood that appeared fresh. Continuing my search, I found a human arm. I notified dispatch and the other officers. Officer B. then advised me that he had found Mr. F.'s remains, and that it appeared he had been attacked by an animal.

At this time, I noticed a strong smell of rotting meat and heard a soft moaning coming from a room adjacent to the meat cutting area. I called for Officer B. and Officer O., and then pointed my firearm towards the doors of the room and advised the subject to come out with his hands up. The moaning grew agitated and I again asked for the subject to come out. When Officer B. and Officer O. arrived on scene, we heard what sounded like a heavy machine or box being slammed on the ground, followed by incoherent screaming. Officer B. went to the door and opened it for me and Officer O.

When Officer O. and I entered the room, we observed what looked to be a white male with wounds all over his body and blood covering his face. His neck appeared broken and muscle tissue was visible underneath his wounds. When I ordered the subject to get on the ground, he shouted unintelligibly. I advised of my intent to fire upon him if he didn't get on the ground immediately and the subject approached me at a fast speed. Officer O. and I fired on the subject a total of six times. The subject fell to the ground as Officer B. entered the room.

We surrounded the immobilized subject and informed dispatch. At that moment, the subject suddenly lunged at Officer B. All three of us unloaded our weapons until the subject stopped moving.

During the fracas, Officer Brown was bitten by the subject on his left ankle, and by the time Sgt. S. and Durham EMS arrived, he had developed a high fever. Officer B. was taken to Duke University Hospital for further treatment. Mr. F.'s corpse and the corpse of the subject we found were taken to Durham County Morgue for further examination.

*** Shortly after this report was filed, Officer B. died of his injuries, and Officer R. and Officer O. were fired by the Durham Police Department. Carmen F.'s corpse disappeared from the County Morgue only to be discovered three days later after a bizarre shooting in Wake County, North Carolina. The suspect that attacked Officer B. was never identified due to advanced decay.

Comments From Dr. Pecos: What's going on in the Carolinas? I've received several zombie reports from there lately. A few questions: what happened with respect to this shooting you mentioned in Wake County? And why were you officers fired? It doesn't appear you did anything wrong. Also, this report is dated almost three years ago. What's happened in the interim?