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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
4 law enforcement officers were killed in shooting at a home in | |
Charlotte, North Carolina. 4 other officers are hospitalized | |
By Devon M. Sayers, Shawn Nottingham and Emma Tucker, CNN | |
Updated: | |
3:01 PM EDT, Tue April 30, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
Four officers were killed in a shooting while attempting to serve a | |
warrant at a home in Charlotte, North Carolina, including one deputy US | |
marshal and two local task force officers, authorities say. | |
Four other law enforcement officers were shot during the incident, | |
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said Monday evening. | |
An internal law enforcement memo reviewed by CNN shows officers are | |
looking for the person who bought the firearm used in the shooting to | |
potentially bring federal charges. | |
Jennings said during a Tuesday news conference the investigation is | |
active and ongoing. | |
Evidence from the residence is still being processed, he said, adding | |
the amount of evidence that will be collected is expected to be “well | |
over 100 rounds of gunfire of projectiles and casings.” | |
“We saw officers going into the line of fire to save their brothers | |
in blue who have gone down in an act of trying to keep our community | |
safe,” Jennings said Tuesday. “To me, that’s truly heroic. When | |
you hear the gunshots and the rapid fire and they are running directly | |
into it because they know there are people who need help – they | |
risked their own lives to do that.” | |
The compound tragedy adds to a growing list of officers shot and killed | |
in the line of duty this year. At least 98 officers were shot in the | |
line of duty , according to , an organization representing US law | |
enforcement officers. Ten of those officers died. | |
The shooting in Charlotte happened as members of a US Marshals fugitive | |
task force were serving a warrant for possession of a firearm by a | |
convicted felon in the Shannon Park neighborhood, Jennings said. | |
The officers were met with gunfire from a “high-powered rifle” and | |
returned fire, fatally shooting the suspect. Jennings said the task | |
force had been serving the warrant to that suspect. | |
Jennings said 12 CMPD officers fired their weapons during the incident, | |
all of whom have been placed on administrative leave pending a standard | |
officer-involved shooting investigation. | |
Three members of the marshals’ task force were fatally shot, Jennings | |
said. One of those killed was a deputy US marshal, 48-year-old Thomas | |
M. Weeks, who is survived by his wife and four children, according to | |
the US Marshals Service. | |
Two of the officers killed, Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott, worked for | |
the state’s Department of Adult Correction, according to Todd Ishee, | |
the department’s secretary. Both were 14-year veterans of the | |
department assigned to the task force. Poloche leaves behind a wife and | |
two children. Elliott leaves behind a wife and one child. | |
One of the fatally wounded officers, Joshua Eyer, died from his | |
injuries “with his wife and family by his side” after fighting for | |
several hours, police said. The six-year veteran of the CMPD is | |
survived by his wife and 3-year-old son, Jennings said during a Monday | |
evening news conference. | |
“Officer Eyer was 6-year veteran with the CMPD, and I am truly | |
grateful for his bravery, service and ultimate sacrifice. He will never | |
be forgotten, and we are forever indebted,” Jennings posted on X. | |
“It was just last month I was in this very room, congratulating | |
Officer Eyer for becoming officer of the month,” Jennings said during | |
the news conference. “He certainly dedicated his life and gave his | |
life to serve our citizens.” | |
One CMPD officer who was injured by gunfire, Christopher Tolley, | |
remains hospitalized in stable condition after undergoing surgery, | |
Jennings said. Two other officers who were shot, Michael Giglio and | |
Jack Blowers, were released on Monday after being treated. | |
Another officer, Justin Campbell, broke his foot and was released from | |
the hospital Tuesday morning after being treated, according to a | |
release from the police department. | |
2 firearms recovered from residence, police say | |
Authorities identified the deceased suspect as 39-year-old . He was | |
wanted for possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of felony | |
flee to elude out of Lincoln County, North Carolina, police said. | |
The internal law enforcement memo gives a detailed outline of | |
Monday’s shooting, revealing law enforcement agents approached the | |
suspect outside of a home. Hughes retreated into the home before he | |
could be arrested, it said. | |
As law enforcement agents set up a perimeter around the residence, the | |
memo said, Hughes opened fire with what was likely an AR-15-style rifle | |
from a second-story window, striking 8 officers, the memo said. | |
Hughes then jumped out of the second story window onto an awning and | |
officers shot and killed Hughes, the memo said. | |
The AR-15 rifle, a .40 caliber handgun, along with additional magazines | |
and ammunition were recovered from the scene, according to Jennings. | |
Police initially believed there might have been another suspect | |
shooting from inside the residence, but Jennings told CNN on Tuesday | |
it’s likely Hughes was moving through different parts of the home. | |
“Unfortunately, this individual decided to greet them with gunfire, | |
and it just turned into a tragic event for the officers who were | |
originally out on the scene and the officers who responded to try and | |
assist,” Jennings told CNN. | |
A woman and a 17-year-old girl were brought outside of the home after | |
police secured the scene, Jennings added. They were taken to the | |
Charlotte Law Enforcement Center to be interviewed by detectives, | |
police said. | |
“We are very early in the investigation,” Jennings said Monday. | |
“CMPD will lead this investigation, we still have a lot to uncover, a | |
lot of questions that are not answered right now.” | |
The city’s mayor, Vi Lyles, said during Tuesday’s news conference: | |
“Charlotte isn’t going to be the last place that this happens, but | |
Charlotte will be the place that will heal – that will heal with | |
dignity and respect for everyone.” | |
Officers killed in line of duty was highest on record in 2023, data | |
shows | |
There were 378 officers shot in the line of duty in 2023 – since the | |
Fraternal Order of Police began tracking the data. They included 46 | |
officers killed by gunfire and 20 killed in ambush-style attacks, | |
according to the Fraternal Order of Police. | |
“Many will often look at this data and just see numbers, but we MUST | |
remember that they represent heroes — fathers, mothers, sons, and | |
daughters,” Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes said | |
after the organization released the data. “This scale of violence | |
against our officers is horrifying and simply unsustainable. It is no | |
wonder that our profession is facing a recruitment and retention | |
crisis.” | |
In 2022, there were 331 officers shot in the line of duty, including 62 | |
by gunfire and 32 killed in ambush-style attacks, according to the | |
Fraternal Order of Police. The year before, 346 officers were shot in | |
the line of duty, including 63 by gunfire, the data shows. | |
The increased violence against police officers in the past few years | |
mirrors the broader rise in . | |
Criminology experts such as Thomas Abt, a senior fellow at the Council | |
on Criminal Justice, have cited a : the fraying of social connections | |
due to the Covid-19 pandemic; the murder of George Floyd and resulting | |
rise in public distrust of police and a and gun ownership. | |
While theories behind any violent crime vary, the FBI has tried to | |
piece together an explanation of why some people attack police | |
officers. | |
A 2016 report, released to law enforcement agencies in May 2017, | |
examined 50 shootings of police officers and found that the | |
assailants’ two key motives were a desire to escape arrest (40%) and | |
hatred of the police (28%), . | |
‘They are heroes,’ Biden says | |
The police chief described the shooting as “the most tragic one” he | |
had been involved with in his 32-year-long law enforcement career. | |
“I can’t remember an incident where three law enforcement officers | |
were killed in the same incident, as well as one in critical condition | |
and additional (officers) that were shot and injured,” Jennings said. | |
President Joe Biden spoke with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper after the | |
shooting, the White House said Monday. Later, Biden issued a statement | |
calling the officers “heroes.” | |
“They are heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, rushing into | |
harm’s way to protect us,” the president said. “We mourn for them | |
and their loved ones. And we pray for the recoveries of the courageous | |
officers who were wounded.” | |
Mayor Lyles said in a statement she is “deeply saddened by the | |
shooting that occurred that involved Charlotte-Mecklenburg police | |
officers and US Marshals today.” | |
“I ask that all Charlotteans keep them, the other injured officers, | |
and their families in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly | |
difficult time,” Lyles said. | |
In, the US Marshals Service wrote, “Our hearts are heavy tonight for | |
the lives shattered by today’s horrific shooting in Charlotte, NC. We | |
mourn the loss of our Deputy and two Task Force Officers. We are | |
grateful for all the support, and we keep the families and colleagues | |
of all officers involved, in our thoughts.” | |
This story has been updated with additional information. | |
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