ASHEVILLE - Prosecutors will not charge the two police officers who shot and wounded an Asheville man June 7, according to the Buncombe County District Attorney's Office.
In a news release sent after an inquiry from the Citizen Times, District Attorney Todd Williams said that officers who shot Curtis Kavanaugh Zane, 27, at Westmont Commons Apartment Homes on Chamberlain Drive did not break the law.
Asheville Police officers responded to a call shortly after 6:15 p.m. about a man armed with a knife. When they arrived, officers encountered Zane, who "advanced aggressively while holding an 8-inch kitchen knife above his head," said Williams, who reviewed body-camera footage of the incident.
The police officers who shot Zane told investigators that
they feared for their lives, and that the short distance and Zane's rapid advance made less-lethal force options like pepper spray or a Taser "unlikely to pose an effective defense."
"Specifically, a Taser would have required both probes to make solid contact to achieve neuromuscular incapacitation ― an outcome that was improbable given the speed and distance of the threat," Williams wrote.
Both officers said that shooting Zane was their only measure capable of "neutralizing" the threat they faced, Williams wrote.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation identified the officers involved as Officer L. Wynkoop and Officer T. Schindler.
Curtis Zane could not be reached for comment. Zane survived the shooting, according to police. Court records indicate that he was not charged.
Asheville has had three police shootings in 2026. The District Attorney's Office also cleared officers earlier this summer in the shooting of a Burnsville man April 21 in Skyland.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com or call her at 980-241-8671.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: No charges for Asheville Police officers in June shooting
