Eight cops shot, 4 fatally, while serving warrant in US

Eight law officers were shot on Monday, four fatally, as a US Marshals fugitive task force tried to serve a warrant in Charlotte in North Carolina, the police said, in one of the deadliest days for law enforcement in recent years.

The suspect they were seeking was also killed, New York Times reports quoting the police.

Around 1:30 pm, members of the task force went to the 5000 block of Galway Drive to serve a warrant on a person for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Johnny Jennings, the chief of police of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, said at a news conference on Monday evening.

When they approached the person, the shooter fired at them, the police said. The officers returned fire and struck the person, who was later pronounced dead in the front yard of the residence.

As police approached the shooter, Chief Jennings told reporters, the officers were met with more gunfire from inside the home. After a long standoff, two people inside were taken to the station as “persons of interest,” Chief Jennings said. One is a 17-year-old male and the other an adult woman, he added.

 “Today is an absolute tragic day for the city of Charlotte and for the profession of law enforcement,” Chief Jennings said. “Today, we lost some heroes that are out simply trying to keep our community safe.”

In all, four members of the task force were shot, three of whom died. The US Marshals Service confirmed that one of its deputy marshals was among those killed. Two of those killed were officers with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, Gov. Roy Cooper said on social media. The task force is made up of officers from multiple agencies.

Four members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were also shot, one of whom died from his injuries on Monday night, the police said on social media. The officer, Joshua Eyer, who had been with the department for six years, was helping other officers arrest the suspect when he was shot, the police said.

 “He fought for several hours and passed away from his injuries with his wife and family by his side tonight,” Chief Jennings said in a statement posted to social media on Monday evening. “I am truly grateful for his bravery, service and ultimate sacrifice,” he said.

The police did not release the name of the shooter who was killed, the two persons of interest or any of the other law enforcement officers.

The authorities shut down the city’s Shannon Park neighborhood, east of downtown, on Monday afternoon after gunfire erupted in order to more easily move victims to hospitals, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department wrote on social media.