3 officers killed in shooting in Charlotte, North Carolina | LiveNOW from FOX

Welcome back. Thanks for joining us. We do want to take you right out to Charlotte, North Carolina. where we're following breaking news of officer shot a suspect. inside of the residents where this happened now dead. This is going to be the first to update we're getting from officials on camera. Let's listen in here live raw and unfiltered. Uh, good afternoon everyone. My name is Kevin petus. I'm a lieutenant with the Charlotte meberg Police Department. here in Charlotte, North Carolina. I appreciate your patience this afternoon as we uh have worked through, uh this situation that we've been dealing with today. Uh, there's no doubt that Charlotte. or Charlotte Community has experienced a tragedy today. and it's 1 that as a law enforcement community. We always know as possible. but we never expect it never gets easier. We're going to do our best. to answer your questions today. to provide details to be transparent about the events of this afternoon. but I do employ you to understand. uh that we're dealing with tragic loss of life today. and uh that loss of life is very fresh. There's details that we do not know there's questions that we frankly just aren't going to be able to answer. Um, we will take your questions. Uh, but first the chief of police for the Charlotte mecker Police Department, Johnny Jennings is going to come and give you some information to share his thoughts. Uh, spell that for you Johnny is j o h n n y last name is Jennings. j e n n i n g s after Chief Jennings, uh, the mayor of the city of Charlotte vials is going to come and share her thoughts. via V lis. l y l e s chief. Thank you lieutenant. today's an absolute tragic day for the city of Charlotte. and for the profession of law enforcement Today we lost some Heroes. that are out to just simply trying to keep our community safe. I'm going to try to go through a series of events of how this all occurred and played out. and then tell you a little bit more about uh about the injuries and the things that we had to endure today as a as a professional and as a city. so about 1:30. P.m. This afternoon. the US Marshals fugitive task force went to the 5,000 block of gallway Avenue in attempt to survey a warrant. on an individual. for possession of firearm by a convicted felon. when they approached that individual they were met with gunfire. officers returned gunfire and struck the victim Who was later pronounced deceased in in the front yard of the residents? as officers approached that individual they were they then received. additional gunfire from inside of the residents. So after a long standoff we were able to clear this residence. and confirmed that there were 2 additional people inside. They were both brought to the police station as Persons of Interest. and were trying to determine now what exactly occurred inside of the residents. tragically there were 3 members of the were 3 members of the US Marshals task force Who are pronounced deceased? and there were there were 4 cmpd officers. Who were shot? 1 being in critical condition who is now in the hospital? fighting for his life? a total of 8 law enforcement officers were shot by this by the suspects in this house So we are very early in the investigation. cmpd will lead this investigation. Uh, we still have a lot to uncover a lot of questions that are not answered right now. So please respect the fact that I won't be able to answer some of the questions that you're going to have. Uh, but at the same time. uh, we are going to diligently work on this to ensure that that we bring a respect. to these officers. and these law enforcement officials that lost their lives today. And this is a good example. of what we try to tell people every single day that when we put on this uniform. that we don't have any guarantees that we'll return home. But yet we have a lot of Great men and women. across this entire country. that do it every single day. to make sure that you're safe in your communities. So with that I'm going to turn it over to Mayor Vios if you want to say a few words. You never know what your day is going to be like you can't. plan things like this to be. in this space. at this time. We've lost 3 people they lost their lives after they gave us. the opportunity to be in a safe place. and they lost their lives. These are people that care deeply about what they've done. for professionals and now today we have to say to them. how much we are grateful for what they have done? We won't know very much about what happened. until their investigation is done, but I know this about our community. our community stands up for people they stand up for all of the people that work for us. that make it possible. all of our officers. if you had a little bit of problem. driving around today. I don't think anybody was too worried about that. because we know that there is a reason for this and there's a reason that everything. happens and sometimes we don't understand it. but at this point I know that this community. will seek understanding. I know that our Police department will seek understanding. I want to say this. Um We're very very. much. grateful. today. I heard from the White House. about the loss of our officers and the situation that we were having to adjust to. I've heard from congresswoman Adams as well as congressman. Cameron. Jeff Jackson. On the way over here. the speaker of the House Tim Moore and the president of our state senate. Phil Berger they all talked about what can they do to help us? Now we may not know what help we need right now today. But we do know that when people reach out to say this is something that is important that has happened. and they want to be a part of whatever we do. because there will be a time that we will commemorate these people. that lost their lives. You think about it? your father your husband. your friend your neighbor. all of them were some 1 person like that. And today they're not going home. You know 3 people. lost their lives today and the most that I can ask of our community. Is that we? honor and respect them? for all the work that they've done? all the work that we will do. to make it possible. for our city to be safer. everyone of us wants to be in a situation where they got you get up this morning and get to come back home. and someone didn't today. Keep your prayers keep your faith. Make sure that these. officers who have families have people to reach out and hold them up. because they will need this. and we are will need this. and we are a city that will make it possible for them to be this way to be able to live. and know that we honor and respect the loss that they have. Thank you very much for this time. Thank you mayor. I want to take just a moment just to clarify. Um, there was a total of 4. cmpd officers. I was struck by gunfire today and 4 Task Force officers. That's a total of 8. law enforcement officers. Who were who were struck by gunfire today? Um, I want to take a minute to recognize the the people standing behind us here today. the first responder community the government organizations that that stand behind me. This is a community within the community. and it's incredible the bond that we have and it's demonstrated. in no other way like it is in moments of crisis in the moments of tragedy. like the 1 that occurred today, so to recognize the people that are with me today. we have the Shaw Fire Department. medic home, uh Department of Homeland Security Federal Bureau of Investigation Department of Alcohol Tobacco firearms US Marshals Mecca County District Attorney's office North Carolina Highway Patrol and I sure hope I didn't leave anybody off the list but for um, on their behalf, I want to thank you for being here. and um on behalf of all the men and women that they represent. Who answered the call? especially when tragedy Stakes I want to I want to thank them. Um. any questions that you have Chief chief Jennings and uh mayor Liars are available. Yes knowing that they're going into a situation where they know that someone. the way that they respond if at all well it certainly changes. the response. The question is. How does it change? the response when you're going into a residence? where someone has a history of having a weapon? Uh and let me just be clear the US Marshal Service. uh their fugitive task force is comprised of surrounding agencies. So there are multiple agencies that are involved. uh with The fugitive task force with the Marshal Service. uh the stroller make more police department is a member of the US Marshals, uh task force as well. Um, so anytime you are dealing with someone who is a convicted felon and who has been caught previously with the firearm. it does raise concerns and raise awareness when you are responding so um, when they do that, the part of the reason the task force is such an imperative. Part of what we do every single day is because they have extensive training and they train together. to be able to deal with these kind of situations. It's always going to be. uh something that's on the Forefront of their. uh thought process when you're going after. Charlotte's most dangerous people. Uh, and unfortunately today was something tragic. that we never want to see I never want to stand in front of you today. uh to talk about an incident such something this tragic. It's it's really hard braking. Yes. you know, I I I'm not ready to tell you all of the agencies what I can confirm Is that 4 cm PD Officers were shot. Uh 1 cm PD officer is in very critical condition at this point. Uh, we do have to make sure that uh family members and all of them are notified, so I'm not going to release which agencies they were with with the task force. question is the number of Shooters we are. right now we believe there are 2 Shooters involved. Uh again we have 2 people of Interest at the police station that are being questioned right now. Uh, and we have confirmed that the individual that was uh set up that we were serving the warrant on uh was the individual who fired the initial shots and was deceased in the front yard. uh at the end of all of this so, besides the the the other officers besides the officer that's in critical condition the other officers. are stable. Uh the degree of injuries are varying anywhere from a graze wound. uh to a to a wound that uh requires a little bit more attention, but they are stable and expected to be okay. all officers Yes, I can confirm that Uh, we do have a we do have an a sergeant who is assigned to the task force. who was on the scene. uh that officer immediately called for help the 3 officers or the 4 officers that were shot. our officers who were responding to the scene. I'll get to you. Yes, sir. Christine. Um, can you just tell us what firearms? these suspects had it when you were able to get into that house Were there any other firearms? that that's still early to tell uh, right now we're still doing the investigation in the house. I can't tell you. It was a high-powered rifle that was involved on the suspect in. Yes, sir. Thank you for that question. So The Bravery of our officers that responded to the scene? knowing that they're going into gunfire. Is is what I've been saying for many years. is in the face of danger. our people step up. And this profession steps up. and that's what we should be. defined as doing. because we they knew what they were going into. and still. Held their own. and attempt to apprehend this suspect. they knew that they had officers that needed help. that needed to be extracted from that location. yet. They went in some getting shot themselves as a result. So uh the Bravery the heroism uh everything that goes down with that defines what our profession is. our people demonstrated at today, and I couldn't be more proud of the response. I couldn't be more proud of the Partnerships that we have. at every single level of law enforcement every single level of Public Safety. I can't say enough about the phone calls the text messages. uh the support. and as you heard lieutenant, Petrus, say or the mayor say, that a lot of it is, what do you need? How can we help? and it just uh in times like this. That's exactly what we need. and in these situations. Chief in terms of other surrounding areas. without yeah, so the the question is how many other agencies are with the fugitive task force or just responded? Um, so the Fugitive task force. I don't have the exact. numbers. uh with Charlotte has 1 member. uh on the fusible fugitive task force as a sergeant, but mainly the surrounding agencies within our uh within our surroundings, uh cities and towns, Pounds are members of that and we can get you those numbers exactly. What? do they do they actually helped out. responding to this whether it was gas County providing repair casual or whatever. Yeah, So, uh, so the officers who responded to help out um all the federal agencies were on the scene with me and uh, uh, uh state agencies of mecklinburg County Sheriff's Office was there as well. Um, we had agencies uh from Pineville, uh to different different towns within our our County, uh, they sent officers in to answer our calls for service. because we were we obviously you can imagine the Manpower needs that it was to secure that scene and to do the transports, so they were very helpful to ensure that we did not let our citizens down. in responding to those calls for service and they were very helpful in that so no children in the house. It was 1 juveniles. Not right now the type of ammunition that's still part of the investigation. uh all of that will have to be uh be looked at as as far as we when we get into the house. also we're covering any uh projectiles that might have been as taken out as treatment to the officer. So there's a there's a lot that we still have to uncover. We're not there yet. Can you choice of Possession was not taken into consideration. So the question is whether this was an appropriate time to serve a warrant. Uh, I will. I will tell you. I will say when you're talking about. a felon. who has propensity to carry a firearm there is no great time to do it. Uh, whether it's in the middle of the night or in the middle of the day. uh, the interest in The Fugitive task force was to The that this person was brought to Justice and taken off the streets. Uh, and unfortunately, uh, he decided that he was going to respond to that by gunfire at our officers. Yes, ma'am. Do you have any prior? histories or calls regarding this place of residence? I I do not right now but uh the history of this residence the history of the individual all of that will be released very soon. We're going to try to get that information out We do have a lot of family notifications that we have to make. in order to provide more information to each and every 1 of you uh about this individual so, yeah, so the question is. is right now is the shelter in place open Is it area? Okay. to to uh, go back to normal duties. Yes, we're going to be at the residence processing the crime scene. uh, probably for several hours. Uh, but as far as the lockdowns and then closure of roads and all of that we have opened that back up the house has been secured by our officers have been cleared. Uh, and now it's now comes the tedious task of ensuring that we collect the evidence. and process the scene. Yes. I just wanted to confirm front yard you mentioned there were 2 more people in. inside that house that are now the additional shooter or what their second victim or 1 of those suspects. Yeah. So the question is about the 2 uh other individuals, who were who came out of the house later. uh, uh, the we can't I can't confirm right now. whether which 1 or if either. are the suspects in the additional shots that were fired. uh what I can tell you is that we had the house secured. Um, and it was the perimeter was Secure and we continued to take gunfire from inside the residents and after we cleared the residents there were only 2 individuals that came out. uh 1, uh 17 year old juvenile. and then a uh another female who was taken out as well. So she just to give 1 suspect cease. Yes chief Uh did you know that I hate to ask this. Do you know if this is the deadliest law enforcement day in regular County or Charlotte history? I cannot I've been I've been with the Charlotte Meck work Police Department for 32 years. Uh, I can't remember. an incident where 3 law enforcement officers. Um were and and and also 3 that were killed in the same. incident as well as 1 in critical condition and and additional that were shot. uh and injured so, um, uh to me, it's it's the most tragic 1 that I've been involved in I I don't know historically I I can't imagine that there's 1 that's that's any worse than what we're seeing. today well a lot of the questions that need to be answered we don't even know what those questions are right now we have to get a full understanding. of why this occurred. Uh, and also to uphold the Integrity of the investigation We want to make sure that we check all the boxes that we need to so that we can get a full a full prosecution in this case. if and when it comes down to that, uh, we know some answers but we still have many that we have to uh clear up and and many that we have to continue uh to work on until we can really lock down. What happened who was involved. Uh, and and move on from there. So, the governor uh earlier today he basically asked me what do I need? He's here to support. uh, certainly appreciative of of the phone call with him. Uh, and um, you know, unfortunately I know he would be here if he could right now he's on his way to come and speak with us, but um I did speak with him this afternoon. are for the family and the community? Um, I am a um, in Charlotte residents 1975. I appreciate what the police officers do in our community. speaking on behalf of the East Charlotte Community. I'm prayerful that there will be an increase of the police. presence. in our area. in East Charlotte. Yeah, thank you for that. Um. Yeah at this point. I'm I'm concerned mainly with. taking care of the officers. taking care of their families. Uh, and all of that comes into play later on. How do we respond to this community? But want to make sure the community knows that we're going to continue to keep them safe. Uh, we got a lot of brave men and women out there that are going to continue working in that. uh neighborhood and they're going to continue to um, uh work in the best interests of our community and our citizens so yes I take 3 more questions. Yeah. Okay, all of the officers from cmpd that were injured. were responding to the scene the 1 office the 1 sir that we have assigned to the task force was not injured. Yes. I don't know how many total officers were there serving the warrant so. I don't have that. That's that's from the US Marshals. uh task force that they they had their contingency of their uh task force out there doing this 1 sir. Yes. in regards to law enforcement and just citizens throughout this. throughout the state to be a beneficial step that can be taken between relations between police enforcement and whether it could be just citizens felons or whatever the case may be what could be done to bridge the gap so the level of the situation would ever take place. well I I'll I'll be honest with you. Whatever Gap there is. this level should never get to this place, right? I mean you can have all the Hate in Your Heart. That you possibly can have that should never result in taking a life. and much less taking multiple lives. so the Charlotte Meck Police Department. and every agency you see behind me. Has a priority to in to continue to make sure. that we have the the best community relationships that we possibly can. But a lot of that also means that we have to be met halfway on certain things. so um, we're going to continue to do that. and like I said, we're going to continue to keep your community safe. So, thank you. That's all I'll ask answer for now. So, thank you. All right. Thank you all for being here. Um, we we do need your your support and we do need your prayers. both for our officers and the other officers involved and for for their families and and for those impacted in our community and other different ways, So, uh, Stay tuned to cm3 public affairs our social media channels and and press releases that we're going to be putting out. We'll keep you