Shannon Park residents remember deadly officer ambush one year later

CHARLOTTE, NC – Residents in the Shannon Park neighborhood say they still remember the deadly officer ambush that happened back on April 29th, 2024.

“It’s almost like a presence. You can just feel and you want to look, you don’t want to look, and it’s it’s still too fresh at this point to even really settle in,” Travis Inman, Shannon Park Resident said.

A US Marshals Task Force attempted to serve a warrant to this home on Galway Drive. It turned deadly when the suspect shot at officers. Four members of law enforcement were killed and several other officers were injured.  CMPD officer Joshua Eyer, Deputy US Marshal Tommy Weeks and Department of Corrections investigators Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott went to work that Monday and never returned to their families alive.

“You never know. Especially in that line of work what day is going to be their last. So, you know, our hearts go out to the families and friends of them,” Karl Mount, Shannon Park Resident said.

After the shots were fired, the suspect refused to surrender forcing a more than three hour long standoff. Police evacuated nearby homes and rammed a swat vehicle into the home to stop the shooter. The suspect eventually jumped out of the window before police shot him.

“All of a sudden, just the 4th of July was exploding and it was odd and surreal and just still tough to think about to this day,” Inman said.

Neighbors say they’ve been thinking about the loved ones of the officers killed.

“Just knowing now, too, that it’s been a year, like my heart goes out to all of them, and I know every day is probably very hard for them, and it’s nice to think about them and send good energy to them,” Kenzie Cowan, Shannon Park Resident said.

The home where it all happened is still vacant one year later. Crews have repaired most of the physical damage left behind.

“We still think about it every day that we go past that park, that house. It’s but it’s still a place that we do take our family and feel safe,” Inman said.

WCCB asked CMPD Police Chief Johnny Jennings to do an interview with us about the April 29th ambush. His office declined saying, “Given the magnitude of this event and the trauma involved in reliving it, the chief has been selective in choosing which agencies to engage with.” CMPD did make their own documentary about the officer ambush on YouTube now.