The media coverage of DeAndre Ballard's story

Palace Jones

The Campus Echo

December 5, 2018

It’s December, roughly four months since DeAndre Ballard’s life was taken away from him, and people are still demanding answers on what happened that fateful night.

DeAndre Ballard was a graduating senior of North Carolina Central University who was fatally shot by an apartment security officer on September 17th. The apartment complex was Campus Crossings, an apartment complex that many NC Central students reside during their senior and junior years. The security officer was not employed by the apartment complex but was employed through the NC Detective Agency.

NC Central has received backlash from students on the way that the institution handled the situation of Ballard, regarding how they addressed the student body with the information as well as addressing their connection to the apartment complex. The NC Central Communications Office addressed their relationship with the complex in a statement saying, “The university is not associated with and does not have any contractual agreement with Campus Crossings, an independently-owned residential apartment complex. The NCCU police department officers have no jurisdiction or connection with the Campus Crossings apartment complex nor with the security officer involved in the incident.  NCCU does not endorse or recommend any specific rental property for students. Additionally, the university does not utilize the security services of the N.C. Detective Agency and does not hire any officers employed with this particular agency.”

The Herald Sun, a local Durham newspaper, was the first media outlet to publish a story on a Campus Crossings shooting. Virginia Bridges, the journalist behind the story, came into Danny Hooley’s Reporting and Writing class to speak on her process on covering Ballard’s story as well as the reporting and writing process.

“After my editor found the statement from the NCCU Chancellor almost right after that there was an alert from WRAL that it was the security guard that shot,” said Bridges.

According to the security officer’s statement, Ballard was breaking into vehicles and forced his was into the officer’s passenger side of his car and proceeded to attack the officer. Many of Ballard’s classmates, friends, family as well as members of the Durham community do not believe the officer, and even challenge the officer’s statement.

Ballard’s mother offered a statement to Bridges combatting the officer’s statement speaking on his character and the DeAndre that she knew.

“[Ballard] was very spiritual,” Ballard said to the Herald Sun. “He loved God. He loved his friends, and he loved his family.”

Takiyah Thompson, a NC Central student that is recognized with pulling down the statue at the Durham Courthouse during fall of 2017, reached out to Bridges to comment on the Herald Sun’s story on Ballard.

“We really don’t understand [the officer’s story’s] timeline,” said Thompson. “We heard a rumor that it was a security officer that was killed, we didn’t think it was [Ballard].”

After hearing Thomson’s statement, Bridges decided to look into this lead for more information reaching out to the police department to try to piece together the timeline of the night Ballard was killed.

“I sent notes to the police department, I called back one of the friends, clarified my interview to make sure that I understood correctly because we don’t report rumors,” said Bridges. “But we put out the story to outline the timeline of what happened between when he was shot and when it came to light.”

Various other news outlets covered the story as well, including the on-campus news source The Campus Echo, where they explained the details of the case as well as covered the reactions of the student body. WRAL also issued an article outlining the “several complaints” against the NC Detective Agency.

Ballard’s case still remains open.