4 law enforcement officers killed while serving warrant in North Carolina

Four officers were fatally shot as a U.S. marshals task force was serving a warrant at a home Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina, officials said. A suspected shooter was also dead.

A marshal and two local officers working with the fugitive task force were killed in the gunfire around 1:30 p.m. Gov. Roy Cooper said that “two state Department of Adult Correction officers” had died.

The city’s police chief announced Monday night that a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer who had been wounded, Joshua Eyer, had also died.

“It was just last month I was in this very room congratulating Officer Eyer for becoming officer of the month in April,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said. “And he certainly dedicated his life and gave his life to serve our citizens.”

The identities of the other officers have not been made public.

In total, eight law enforcement officers were shot.

The deadly violence happened as a fugitive task force was serving a warrant on a suspect in possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Jennings said the fallen officers were “heroes that were just simply trying to keep our community safe.”

As the task force attempted to serve the warrant, the subject of the warrant, who wasn’t publicly identified, began shooting with a high-powered rifle, Jennings said. Task force members returned fire and killed the suspect in the home’s front yard, he said.

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police sergeant was on the task force but was not struck by gunfire, Jennings said. The sergeant called for backup, and that’s when the four responding Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers were shot, Jennings said.

Police were eventually able to clear the home, Jennings said. Two people inside, one of them 17 years old, were detained as persons of interest.

Officials believe two people fired at law enforcement, Jennings said.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, who spoke at Monday’s news conference, said the community must honor the deputy marshals who lost their lives and the wounded officers.

“These are people that cared deeply about what they’ve done for our profession, and now today, we have to say to them how much we are grateful for what they have done,” Lyles said. “Three people lost their lives today. And the most I can ask the community is that we honor and respect them for all the work they’ve done.”

The governor called the incident “tragic” and said the state is offering assistance.

He later offered his condolences to the families and co-workers in the “brutal attack.”

President Joe Biden was updated on the shooting, the White House said. Biden spoke to Cooper and “expressed his condolences,” according to the White House. Federal officials, the White House said, are also in touch with authorities at the federal, state and local levels.

Eyer, the CMPD officer whose death was announced Monday night, is survived by his wife and a 3-year-old son, the police chief said.

CORRECTION (April 29, 2024, 6:40 pm ET): A previous version of this article misstated the number of U.S. marshals who were killed. One marshal was fatally shot and two local officers working with the marshals task force were also killed.