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 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," Police Chief Johnny Jennings said. "And he certainly dedicated his life and gave his life to serve our citizens."
The secretary of the state Adult Corrections Department identified two of the other people killed as Samuel Poloche and William "Alden" Elliott, both of whom had been with the department for 14 years and were on the marshals task force.
In total, eight law enforcement officers were shot.
Jennings said the fallen officers were "heroes that were just simply trying to keep our community safe."
The violence broke out as the task force was serving a warrant on a suspect in possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The subject, who was not 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.
Cooper, 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 said Monday night of the slain officers: "They are heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, rushing into harm’s way to protect us."
"We mourn for them and their loved ones. And we pray for the recoveries of the courageous officers who were wounded," the president said in a statement. He also called for more funding for law enforcement and for Congress to do more to combat gun violence.
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.
Poloche is survived by a wife and two children, and Elliot and his wife were parents to one child, state Adult Correction Secretary Todd Ishee said in a statement.
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. (A fourth officer who was initially wounded later died.)
