CMPD Confirms Only One Shooter And No Friendly Fire In Deadly East Charlotte Shooting
The gun battle lasted 17 minutes and only ended when the suspect jumped out of a second-story window and was killed in his yard.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department confirmed in a press conference Friday evening that there was only one shooter and that there was no friendly fire during the shooting that killed four law enforcement officers on April 29th.
CMPD Deputy Chief Tonya Arrington confirmed that Terry Hughes, 39, was the only shooter and that no other weapons were found inside the house. Hughes shot at officers with an AR-15 rifle. It was the only weapon used by the suspect during the gun fight.
“Officers were actively engaged with gunfire from the suspect for over 17 minutes,” Arrington said. “That’s an eternity. They were in a gun battle.”
In the press conference, Arrington said that officers were shooting at three separate windows on opposite sides of the house. The suspect went back and forth between these windows to shoot at the officers outside the house.
The suspect was shot and killed by officers after he jumped out of the home from the front window.
At the time, officers believed there was a potential second shooter. As such, officers used a tactic called” “suppressive gunfire” at the upstairs windows in an effort to evacuate the wounded.
The investigation found that no officers were shot or shot at by other officers, Arrington said.
“We can confirm that the suspect was responsible for all who were shot in the line of duty that day,” Arrington said.
CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings said they reviewed over 1,100 videos and nearly 10,000 pieces of evidence.
The investigation is still ongoing.
It was the deadliest shooting against law enforcement officers since 2016.
Officers from a U.S. Marshals Task Force based in Charlotte came under fire at a home on April 29 when they tried to serve warrants for possession of a firearm by an ex-felon and fleeing to elude. Agents shot and killed Hughes, who was wanted in adjoining Lincoln County, during a three-hour standoff.
The officers killed were Sam Poloche and William Elliott of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Officer Joshua Eyer; and Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks. Four other officers were also injured.
Jennings said afterward that more than 100 spent bullets had been recovered. At least 12 officers also fired guns.
Police have said the two females inside the house, including a minor, were cooperating and had not been charged. Arrington said that Hughes told the females to “get out or get down” before opening fire.
The department also said detectives were not looking for additional suspects or persons of interest.
