Former Duke University basketball star Nolan Smith tweeted about a confrontation with Durham, N.C., police in which officers making a traffic stop approached him, allegedly with guns drawn. Smith was in the state this week preparing for the annual K Academy College Basketball Fantasy Camp when the alleged encounter occurred.
According to Sporting News, a Durham Police Department spokesman who identified himself to the site only as “Anderson” said that there were “a lot of variables at play” that could have prompted the alleged behavior.
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“It could have been a similar car whose description matched one of a bank robbery or a shooting. It could have been the actions and behavior of the driver,” he told the site, adding that the officers’ reaction was “normal behavior.”
“Tempers flare,” he added. “And if the case went to court, an officer would need to be able to justify why he did that, but that’s why police officers have body cameras and the cameras in the car.”
The News Observer reported that authorities acknowledged pulling Smith over because the windows of the car were tinted. Two officers went up to the vehicle, according to a police report, one on either side of the car. One officer reportedly took out his firearm for safety, claiming that the officers were unable to see into the back of the vehicle because of the tint.
Read more at Sporting News and the News Observer.