A Conover man was shot and killed Thursday night after he used pepper spray on a state trooper who was trying to arrest him.

Derek Neil Bowman, 30, died Thursday night after he was shot twice by Trooper J.D. Connors in what began as a routine traffic stop, according to Jorge Brewer, spokesman for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.   He said Connors stopped Bowman on Lee Cline Road at 11:35 p.m. under suspicion he was driving while impaired.  Connors observed Bowman driving erratically in his white pickup truck.

When Connors found a pill bottle with a white substance that appeared to be narcotics in Bowman’s possession he ran toward a field, Brewer said.  The substance is currently being tested at the SBI crime lab in Raleigh to determine if it’s an illegal narcotic. The trooper pursued him on foot and finally caught up to him near a storage unit behind a home.  The trooper caught him and was about to put cuffs on him when Bowman fought to get away.  Connors was preparing to use pepper spray on the suspect to subdue him when Bowman took the bottle of pepper spray from his hand and sprayed the trooper in the face.

Connors immediately grabbed his gun and fired two shots into Bowman’s torso.  The suspect was transported to Catawba Valley Medical Center where he later died at 12:45 a.m., authorities said.

Investigators later learned that Bowman had an outstanding warrant in Catawba County for robbery with a dangerous weapon, Brewer said.

Connors is on administrative leave with pay while the State Bureau of Investigation and the Highway Patrol complete a full investigation, as is standard procedure when a trooper kills someone.

Troopers are authorized to use the level of force necessary to make the arrest, Brewer said.  Deadly force is allowed only when the person poses a threat to his life or the lives of others, he said.

Connors, 26, has been a member of the Highway Patrol since 2003.