RALEY, N.C. (AP) — Authorities launched a search for the shooter late Thursday night after a sheriff’s deputy died after he stopped his car on a dark North Carolina road.
“Find out who is responsible for this loss. Even in the midst of injury and pain, we ask for prayers to find out what happened and who is responsible. I ask for patience.
The sheriff’s office identified the killed lieutenant as Lieutenant Ned Byrd, 48, a K-9 officer who had served for 13 years. Byrd was shot dead while on duty in a dark section of Bridge Road just after 11 p.m. on Thursday, about four minutes from a gas station. Office spokesperson Eric Curry said by phone.
“We’re trying to gather why the lieutenant stopped,” Curry said.
Earlier that night, Curry said Bird answered a domestic call less than a mile away and entered a note into the system. He said there was no radio traffic indicating that Byrd was blocking traffic because, as a matter of procedure, he had been instructed to check in. But when Byrd was patrolling the area, something along the road seemed to catch his attention, he said, because his car was positioned to illuminate something.
When Byrd did not respond to several check-in attempts, another agent was dispatched to check and found Byrd open fire outside the vehicle with the K-9 still inside. said Curry.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies were in the area on Friday to participate in a “search for the perpetrator or perpetrator,” Curry said.
In North Carolina, several sheriff’s deputies have been shot and injured in recent weeks. Sergeant Matthew Fishman A Wayne County Sheriff’s Office was killed last week. He was one of his three MPs shot trying to file an involuntary pledge at his home south of Goldsboro on August 1.
Attorney General Josh Stein said in a statement that he was troubled by “recent incidents of violence against law enforcement officers.”
“Police officers risk their lives to protect our communities. We must do everything in our power to keep our communities safe,” he said. “Thank you to the many public-spirited officers serving and protecting the people of North Carolina across the state.”
According to the sheriff’s office, Byrd joined the sheriff’s office as a detainee in 2009 and became a lieutenant in 2018.
Former Sheriff Donnie Harrison recalled Byrd’s goal was to become Deputy Sheriff, WNCN-TV report.
“If detainees were eligible to serve as deputies, we allowed them,” Harrison said. He was a happy man and I was a happy man for him. That’s what makes it so difficult. ”