Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on Tuesday said a Pineville police sergeant’s fatal shooting of a man in May was “justified” and that they would not bring any charges. Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather concurred with the decision, but issued a letter raising concerns about the incident.

Dennis Bodden’s mother has said she believes her son was in a mental health crisis on May 14 when someone reported to Pineville police that he was taking items from a Food Lion near his apartment.

Pineville Sgt. Adam Roberts first confronted Bodden outside the store, but the shooting happened across the city line in Charlotte.

The name of the sergeant who shot Bodden was not released until Tuesday, when Merriweather’s letter to CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings identified Roberts.

“On Tuesday, May 14, 2024, a Pineville Police Department sworn employee perceived an imminent deadly threat and fired their service weapon striking a shoplifting suspect, Dennis Bodden, 46,” a brief news release from CMPD said.

Roberts also shot and injured a man in Pineville in 2020.

Bodden’s mother, Cleopatra Bodden, told the Observer on Tuesday that she was upset by the decision by authorities.

“From the beginning I did not think that I would get a fair trial, and I did not,” she said. “They say they were independent. I don’t think they’re independent. They are all from Mecklenburg County.”

She said the police knew her son struggled with schizophrenia, and that he wasn’t acting rationally on May 14, but didn’t take that into consideration when confronting him, or in the investigation into the responding sergeant’s actions after.

“They knew by his reaction … that he was not reacting like any rational person,” Cleopatra Bodden said. “If you tell someone to stop … and they’re not reacting, you should know that there is something else going on — that that person is not stable. And they didn’t take that into consideration.”

Instead, she said, the sergeant followed her son after he tried to get away, shot him, handcuffed him, and treated him “like he was an animal.” And now, she said, part of her life is gone.

“I’m just existing,” Cleopatra said. “They took my life and it’s just like nothing to them.”

Merriweather, the district attorney, wrote in his letter that mental health may have been a factor.

“Tragically, Mr. Bodden’s mental health reportedly began to deteriorate during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that condition may very well have contributed to the events that ultimately led to his death,” Merriweather wrote. “While the circumstances surrounding his death are especially jarring, there is no likelihood that twelve jurors would unanimously agree that the actions of Sergeant Roberts, in firing his gun, constituted a violation of criminal law.”

No police video of the shooting has been released to the public.

The Charlotte Observer has filed a petition in Mecklenburg Superior Court asking a judge to order release of Pineville police video footage from the shooting. A hearing for that petition is scheduled for later this month. Separately, Cleopatra Bodden also has filed a request in court for release of the police video.

Observer reporter Kate Robins contributed to this story.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.