US: 3 officers dead, 5 injured in North Carolina shooting, suspect killed

Three officers on a US Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout on Monday in a North Carolina home, police said.

The wanted suspect first shot at the officers as they approached the suburban home in Charlotte and they killed him in the front yard, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said.

A second person then fired on officers from inside the home where a high-powered rifle was found, Jennings said.

A woman and a 17-year-old male were found in the home after a three-hour standoff that included armoured vehicles crashing into the suburban home in a tree-lined neighbourhood and tearing off doorways and windows. The two were being questioned, Jennings said.

One other member of the task force, which is made up of federal agents and other officers from across the region, was injured. The Marshal’s Service confirmed one of the agents was killed and did not release a name. The agencies where the two other officers worked were not released.

Four Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers who responded to the scene were also shot while trying to rescue the wounded officers. One remains in critical condition, Jennings said.

Neighbours said gunfire continued for several minutes after the shooting erupted.

WSOC-TV said their helicopter captured an armoured vehicle driving through yards and knocking over recycling bins before officers removed a person with blood on their shirt who was then loaded into an ambulance.

After the home was cleared, the helicopter pilot said he couldn’t show the front lawn of the home because the scene was too disturbing.

Several armoured vehicles were on nearby lawns and driveways of the older suburban neighbourhood of a tree-lined street with brick homes. A shattered window, blinds torn, was in a street and an entire doorway was leaning against one of the vehicles.

Many roads in the area, including Interstate 77, were closed, so ambulances could get to hospitals faster. TV footage showed ambulances speeding to hospitals with several vehicles with sirens on both in front and behind them.

Kiashia Williams was driving home when she heard several shots separated by a few seconds.

“Ambulances, police and everything everywhere just started rushing down,” said Williams as she waited in her car to be allowed to go home and check on her daughter, who broadcast what she saw on social media.

Four Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools were placed on lockdown around afternoon dismissal, but that was lifted in the late afternoon, the district said.

Police urged people to stay away from the neighbourhood and asked residents to remain inside their homes.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he was in contact with law enforcement in Charlotte and offered any state resources to help.

The last marshal shot and killed in the line of duty was in November 2018. Chase White was shot in Tucson, Arizona, by a man wanted for stalking local law enforcement officers, the agency said.

The Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force is headquartered in Charlotte with 70 federal, state and local agencies. Fugitive task forces are collaborations between agencies to find and arrest suspects in crimes.

In six years, the regional task force has arrested more than 8,900 fugitives, the US Marshals Service said on its website.

In March 2007, two Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers were killed responding to a domestic dispute by someone not directly involved in the fight. Demeatrius Antonio Montgomery is serving a life sentence in the killings of officers Jeffrey Shelton and Sean Clark.