Salisbury Police Department Press Release 03-01-2022

On February 28, 2022, at approximately 6:00 PM, a male subject, later identified as Bruce Richard Godwin (32 yrs old), approached a Salisbury Police Officer in the Police Department garage.  The male subject advised that he had recently been hired by the Police Department and was there to obtain some of his equipment.  

The Officer did not recognize Mr. Godwin and advised him that he needed to leave, at which time he left.  

On March 1, 2022, at approximately 5:30 AM, Mr. Godwin returned and parked in a parking lot beside the Police Department.  Mr. Godwin waited for approximately 30 minutes until Officers started arriving for their morning shift briefing.  Once several Officers had parked in the garage, Mr. Godwin fired four rounds from a handgun toward the garage.  One round penetrated a venation vent and entered into the garage.  Mr. Godwin left the parking lot in an unknown direction before the Officers realized what had occurred. 

Mr. Goodwin was immediately identified as the shooter based on surveillance video footage.

The Salisbury Police Criminal Division obtained three counts of Felony Discharging Weapon into an occupied property and five counts of Felony Assault on Law Enforcement with a Firearm criminal warrants.   A search warrant was also obtained for Mr. Godwin’s residence located in Davidson County.    The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the incident and immediately offered their assistance in the service of the arrest warrants and search warrant.   The Davidson County SRT team arrived at Mr. Godwin’s residence and took him into custody.

Mr. Godwin was transferred to Salisbury Detectives, who completed the criminal booking process.  Mr. Godwin was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $100,000.00 bond.

The Salisbury Police Department would like to thank the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for their assistance.   

Do you have information about a crime or wanted person? Contact Salisbury Police at (704) 638-5333 or call Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245. Tips may be submitted online at tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org, via Facebook private message or via the Nixle app by texting 888777 with the words: TIP MYSALISBURY (your tip information). Caller identity is not required and your information will remain confidential. The Salisbury Police Department is a full-service, internationally accredited police department. The SPD received its most recent re-accreditation status in the spring of 2017, for its thirteenth consecutive term. For more information about the Salisbury Police Department, visit www.salisburync.gov/Police. To receive updates regarding our community engagement initiatives, upcoming events and crime alerts, please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SalisburyPoliceDepartment.