Officials in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported that four law enforcement officers were fatally shot and four others sustained injuries while executing a warrant. Following a three-hour standoff, at least one suspected assailant was discovered deceased in the front yard of a barricaded residence. Police stated that two armed suspects were implicated in the incident. This marks one of the deadliest assaults on US law enforcement in recent memory.
On Monday, officers belonging to a task force led by the US Marshals Service were in the process of executing a warrant against a convicted felon wanted for unlawful possession of a firearm. The incident unfolded in a suburban area when gunfire suddenly erupted on the street.
During a press conference, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings disclosed that officers engaged in gunfire with an assailant in the front yard. Subsequently, additional shots were fired from inside the residence. Chief Jennings revealed that a high-powered rifle was discovered inside the property. “Today we lost some heroes who were out simply trying to keep our community safe,” he conveyed to reporters. He noted that it was the most severe assault on police officers he could recollect in his 30 years of service.
Witnesses reported that shots continued to echo through the residential area more than two hours after the attack commenced. The confrontation concluded when law enforcement authorities executed a raid on the residence located on Galway Drive in the Shannon Park neighborhood. They utilized armored vehicles to breach the property, causing significant damage to windows and doorways in the process.