Additional details have been revealed by authorities in North Carolina after 4 law enforcement officers were killed, and four others were wounded, in shooting in Charlotte while trying to serve a warrant Monday afternoon. , Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a press conference that the suspect left the house while armed, and officers opened fire and shot him in the front yard, where he was pronounced dead. He was identified by police as Terry Clark Hughes Jr., 39.
Jennings said that the U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force, comprised of officers from multiple agencies, was attempting to serve an arrest warrant on a man for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in east Charlotte when the shooting began. Jennings said that when officers approached a house to arrest the suspect, they were immediately met with gunfire and they returned fire.
CNN reported that an internal law enforcement memo shows officers are looking for the person who bought the firearm used in the shooting to potentially bring federal charges. Evidence from the residence is still being processed, and the amount of evidence that will be collected is expected to be “well over 100 rounds of gunfire of projectiles and casings.”
During a Tuesday news conference, Jennings called the shooting “an absolute tragic day for the city of Charlotte and for the profession of law enforcement,” and added that the investigation is active and ongoing. Jennings said: “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. 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.”
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