New Hanover County prosecutors took a very rare step when they sought criminal charges against a sheriff's deputy for fatally shooting a Durham teenager last month.

None of the North Carolina law officers who shot someone to death in the line of duty since 2000 has faced criminal penalties, a News & Observer analysis of State Bureau of Investigation and court records shows.

At least 100 North Carolinians were killed by law enforcement officers in the past seven years. The vast majority were gunned down after threatening police and bystanders with guns, knives or cars.

The rarity of criminal cases against officers who kill has heightened the intrigue surrounding Christopher Long, who was fired from the New Hanover County Sheriff's Department after Peyton Strickland, a Durham native, was shot to death Dec. 1. A grand jury refused to indict Long last month, but prosecutors have said the case is not closed.

The possibility that Long could end up in jail for the split-second decision has unsettled law enforcement officers across the state.

"There seems to be a rush to hang Long," said Donald Penix, a retired Charlotte police officer and president of the N.C. Fraternal Order of Police. "Police officers must make a decision within seconds, and everyone else has a lifetime to tear it apart and say 'He should have done this or that.' "

Long shot Strickland through the door of the Wilmington home Strickland was renting after mistaking the thud of a battering ram for the blast of a gun, New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David has said.

Long's SWAT-style unit was barging through Strickland's unlocked door to help search for a stolen PlayStation 3 video-game machine and arrest Strickland on charges that he stole it and beat the UNC-Wilmington student who owned it. Strickland, an 18-year-old Cape Fear Community College student, wasn't armed.

Ten days later, the district attorney appealed to a grand jury to indict Long on a charge of second-degree murder. He argued that Long's decision was so reckless and his mistaken hearing so unbelievable that his actions amounted to murder.

The grand jury didn't buy it. But David has vowed that the investigation is not over and has suggested he might try to present a charge to a new grand jury.

Death threats

Strickland's death has outraged residents across the state. Long moved his family out of New Hanover County after receiving death threats. A stream of letters to the editor and posts to online message boards have urged David to levy the strongest criminal penalties possible.

Although the pending criminal investigation of Long has pacified many, it has surprised and troubled veteran law officers across the state. They say Long is not being treated fairly and say his punishment is out of step with state law.

"Indicting him twice? He's getting less respect than what the average criminal gets in the court system," said John Midgette, director of the N. C. Police Benevolent Association.

State law says an officer is justified in shooting someone he reasonably thinks is about to unleash deadly harm on him or bystanders. Many higher-level courts have backed up that protection. The officer's mere belief that he was doing the right thing is excuse enough, said J. Michael McGuinness, a Bladen County lawyer who represents Long and is counsel for the state's largest law enforcement associations.

"The courts tell people not to engage in hindsight 20/20 in police cases," McGuinness said. "It's irrelevant. [Police] are often wrong, but that's not the point."

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