(RightWing.org) – The US Marshals Service (USMS) currently operates 56 permanent fugitive task forces with state and local officials to help track down and arrest some of the country’s most dangerous outstanding felons. Unfortunately, several of its agents and local law enforcement officers sustained gunshot wounds, many of them fatal, while serving a warrant in North Carolina.
On April 29, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) issued a press release detailing the deadly incident. The report advised that an armed suspect shot four police officers and four marshals earlier that day. Sadly, one CMPD member and three marshals succumbed to their injuries.
The statement explained that several USMS Task Force members and local law enforcement officials attempted to execute active felony warrants on 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes at a private residence at roughly 1:30 p.m. local time. He faced two counts of felony flee to elude and one of possession of a firearm by a felon from officials in Lincoln County, North Carolina.
Hughes opened fire on the officers as they approached the structure, hitting several. They requested immediate backup, and the wanted felon’s gunfire struck several additional officials.
The suspect exited the building carrying a firearm. The report noted that officials ascertained that he presented an “imminent deadly threat” to law enforcement officials and the public and fired their service weapons, striking Hughes several times in the residence’s front yard. First responders pronounced his death shortly after task force members secured the scene.
The CMPD’s SWAT team quickly initiated negotiations with the remaining occupants of the home. Two females exited the structure without further incident. Law enforcement officials transported them to the CMPD’s uptown Law Enforcement Center for questioning.
The press release identified six-year CMPD veteran Joshua Eyer as one of the deceased officers. He clung to life for several hours before dying from his injuries.
On April 30, the USMS issued a statement identifying 48-year-old Thomas M. Weeks Jr. as one of the slain marshals. A longtime resident of Mooresville, North Carolina, he proudly served the USMS for 13 years, the last 10 in North Carolina’s Western District. He is survived by a wife and four children.
The CMPD’s Homicide Unit is conducting the investigation. Additionally, the police department’s Internal Affairs Unit is running a parallel investigation since the incident was an officer-involved shooting.
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