SGT. Philip Nix
Officer: Greensboro Police Department, Sergeant Philip Dale Nix
Date: 12/30/2023 Location: Colfax, NC FACTORS (1,2,3,8,9,15,20)
Perpetrator(s) Involved: Jamere Justice Foster
Criminal Activity History/Involved: None stated. / Yes, Foster committed a larceny.
Mental Illness: None stated.
Substance Abuse History/Involved: Unknown. / Yes, Foster was caught stealing cases of beer.
Race/Sex/Age: Black/Male/18
What prompted the initial contact with the killer? At around 4 p.m. on December 30, 2023, Greensboro Police Department, Sgt. Phillip Nix was off-duty at a gas station when he confronted Jamere Foster after observing him stealing five cases of beer from the establishment.
Actions taken by subject toward police: When Sgt. Nix came up to Foster’s vehicle to confront him, Foster fired five shots at the Sergeant, fatally striking him, and then drove off.
Reactions by the police: Another off-duty officer rendered first aid to Sgt. Nix until he could be brought to a medical facility where he tragically died. A blue alert was issued for Foster and the vehicle he was in and he was arrested along with one of his accomplices later that night.
How murdered? Sgt. Nix was shot at close range when confronting a man he observed committing a commercial larceny.
What could have been done differently for the officer to still be alive? Sgt. Nix observed a crime and didn’t have time to wait for on-duty officers to respond so he bravely confronted the perpetrator on his own.
Would the officer have been justified in using deadly force before being murdered? Sgt. Nix would have been justified to use deadly force if he observed Foster possessing or making a furtive movement for a gun – however in today’s racially charged atmosphere a white police officer would be very reluctant to shoot a black male until they clearly see them possessing a firearm – in which case it is too late.
Outcome for the cop-killer: Foster, 18, was arrested and “charged with felony first-degree murder, misdemeanor larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny.”
Miscellaneous: Foster’s accomplices, John Walter Morrison, was charged with misdemeanor larceny, conspiracy, and felony accessory after the fact to first-degree murder; and Zquriah Lepearce Blackwell, 18, was charged with felony accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
