Law enforcement officers were working together on a U.S. Marshals Task Force when they were met by “active gunfire.”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Three law enforcement officers serving on a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were killed Monday after being met with “active gunfire” from a suspect inside an east Charlotte home. A total of eight law enforcement officers were shot, including four Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers who were injured. At least one of those CMPD officers is listed in critical condition.
The officers were serving together on a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force when they were shot while confronting a suspect inside a home on Galway Drive. The officers were rushed to the hospital but died as a result of their injuries. The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections confirmed to WCNC Charlotte that two of the killed officers were probation officers on a full-time task force with the U.S. Marshals.
The shooting suspect also died Monday. Two others found inside the home are being questioned by police.
Officials have not released the names of those involved.
Residents living near Galway Drive, which is located near Julian Underwood Park, were told to stay inside their homes until police were able to make the neighborhood safe around 5 p.m. The shooting occurred at a home not far from the intersection of The Plaza and Milton Road.
“They were engaged by active gunfire from a subject,” the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department confirmed on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.
The CMPD SWAT team and MEDIC’s mass casualty unit were among those who responded to the shooting scene.
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“I am deeply sadden by the shooting that occurred,” Vi Lyles, Charlotte’s mayor, said on X. “I ask that all Charlotteans keep them, and the other injured officers, and their families in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time.”
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to travel to Charlotte to speak with the families of victims and officials.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools confirmed four schools were on a modified lockdown due to police activity in the area. The schools were Devonshire ES, Briarwood Academy, Cochrane Collegiate and Lawrence Orr ES. The lockdown has since been lifted.
WCNC Charlotte spoke with a neighbor in the area who said he received a phone call from his neighbor explaining there was a shooting in the area. The dad told WCNC Charlotte he’s just trying to get his kids home now.
“He said there’s a man shooting over there,” the neighbor told WCNC Charlotte’s Jesse Pierre. “Man we never had nothing like this before. Never, I’ve been over here for 27years. It’s wild man.”
The shooting investigation impacted many Charlotte drivers. For miles around the shooting scene Monday, police officers temporarily closed busy roads such as Interstate 77, Interstate 277 and U.S. 74 (Independence Blvd.) as ambulances carried injured officers to local hospitals.
Additional police officers could be seen outside Atrium Health’s Carolina Medical Center hospital awaiting their injured colleagues.
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