Five Killed in North Carolina Standoff

Two deputies were killed and three other people including a suspected gunman were found dead following the lengthy shoot-out in Boone, a small city in the Appalachian mountain range.

The Watauga County Sheriff’s office said Sergeant Chris Ward and K-9 Deputy Logan Fox were dispatched to a home in Boone at 9:44am local (13:44 GMT) Wednesday after the homeowner and his family didn’t report to work or answer telephone calls. Both were hit by gunfire.

Other officers were able to pull out Ward, who later died at a hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee. Fox died at the scene.

The gunfire lead to a standoff between the gunman and heavily-armored law enforcement.

“The individual suspected of killing the two officers is also suspected of killing two civilians in the residence,” the statement said. Sheriff Len Hagaman said they were the suspect’s mother and stepfather, WSOC-TV reported.

A Boone Police officer, a Boone firefighter and an Appalachian State University police officer were fired upon during an initial attempt to rescue the deputies, and the Boone police officer was hit, but he escaped injury to his Kevlar helmet equipment, Hagaman told WSOC.

Morganton Department of Public Safety Major Ryan Lander told The News Herald just before 11pm (03:00 GMT) that the suspect appeared to have killed himself, the newspaper reported.

The sheriff’s office said officers from approximately 15 law enforcement agencies surrounded the home. Other people living nearby were evacuated or told to shelter in place as the standoff lasted throughout the day and Wednesday night.

The standoff comes amid ongoing concerns around police killings and gun violence.

Cooper recently recommended a special prosecutor handle the shooting death of Andrew Brown, Jr, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Brown was shot while in police custody last week.