Fourth officers from a U.S. Marshals task force serving a warrant against a felon wanted for possession of a firearm were killed and four other officers were wounded in a shooting Monday in North Carolina, police said.
Officers were first attacked by the wanted suspect as they approached the suburban home in Charlotte and killed him in the front yard, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said.
A second person then fired at the officers from inside the home where a high-powered rifle was found, Jennings said.
A woman and a 17-year-old boy were found in the home after a three-hour standoff that included armored vehicles crashing into the suburban home in a wooded neighborhood and tearing out doors and windows. The two are being questioned, Jennings said.
Another member of the task force, made up of federal agents and other officers from across the region, was injured. The Marshal’s Service confirmed that one of the agents was killed and did not release his name. The agencies where the other two agents worked were not disclosed.
Four Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers who responded to the scene were also shot while attempting to rescue the injured officers. One remains in critical condition, Jennings said.
Neighbors said gunshots continued for several minutes after the shooting broke out.
WSOC-TV said its helicopter captured an armored vehicle driving through yards and knocking over recycling bins before officers removed a person with blood on his shirt and then loaded him into an ambulance.
After the house was cleared, the helicopter pilot said he couldn’t show the front yard of the house because the scene was too disturbing.
Several armored vehicles were in gardens and driveways near the oldest suburban neighborhood on a tree-lined street with brick houses. On one street there was a broken window, broken blinds and an entire door leaning against one of the vehicles.
Many area roads, including Interstate 77, were closed so ambulances could get to hospitals faster. Television images showed ambulances speeding towards hospitals with several vehicles with sirens in front and behind.
Four Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools were closed around afternoon dismissal time, but that was lifted in the late afternoon, the district said.
Police urged people to stay away from the neighborhood and asked residents to stay inside their homes.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he was in contact with Charlotte authorities and offered all 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 and includes 70 federal, state and local agencies. Fugitive task forces are interagency collaborations to find and arrest criminal suspects.
In six years, the regional task force has apprehended more than 8,900 fugitives, the U.S. Marshals Service said on its website.
In March 2007, two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers were killed in response to a domestic dispute by someone who was not directly involved in the fight. Demeatrius Antonio Montgomery is serving a life sentence for the murders of officers Jeffrey Shelton and Sean Clark.
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