As usual, Florida law is what I'm most familiar with - stipulated NC may be slightly different, and someone can check out if the elements are similar.
In Florida:
As defined under Section 784.021, Florida Statutes, Aggravated Assault consists of four factual elements:
The accused intentionally and unlawfully threatened, by word or act, to do violence to the alleged victim,
At the time the threat was made, the accused appeared to have the ability to carry out the threat,
The accused’s threat created in the mind of the alleged victim a well-founded fear that the violence was about to take place, and
The assault was made either with a deadly weapon or with a fully formed conscious intent to commit a felony.
Essentially, Aggravated Assault is an assault with an additional act consisting of the use of a deadly weapon or the intent to commit a felony. Larkins v. State, 476 So. 2d 1383 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1st Dist. 1985).
First, an officer on the scene must determine if all the elements are present and if he or she knows a certain person probably committed them.
Second, a State Attorney will decide whether he or she can present a case which can prove those elements beyond a reasonable doubt. Often they can't, and the case is "nolle pros'd", i.e. not prosecuted.
Just food for thought.
