No friendly fire during deadly east Charlotte shooting that killed four officers: police

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — There was no friendly fire in the deadly shootout April 29 that killed four law enforcement officers, police announced Friday night. 

Deputy Chief Arrington with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police outlined where the suspect, Terry Hughes Jr., was located while he was firing at officers at the home on Galway Drive. Officers determined he was using an AR-15 gun, and came out of the second-story window in the front of the house. 

Hughes also had a handgun, but the AR-15 was the only one to shoot or shoot at officers, Arrington said, and there were no other firearms in the house. A U.S. Marshals Task Force was attempting to serve a warrant to Hughes for felony firearm charges, and CMPD officers eventually aided them.

Hughes was killed by officers, eight total officers were struck by gunfire, and four were killed. Gunfire was exchanged for more than 17 minutes, what Arrington calls “an eternity.”

Arrington said officers used a tactic called “suppressive gunfire” at the home’s second-floor windows so other officers could evacuate the wounded.

Arrington said the two women inside the house not only were not involved in the shooting, but they were not injured. Officers say they were inspected for gunshot residue at the scene. 

Arrington said the investigation has involved more than 1,100 body-worn camera clips, 8,000 images, 65 officer interviews and 10,000 pieces of evidence. 

“It was a rapidly evolving and chaotic scene,” Arrington said. “The circumstances were changing by the minute. It was an unprecedented tragedy in this community.” 

The investigation is ongoing, and CMPD is the lone agency investigating. 

The four officers killed were CMPD’s Joshua Eyer, Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks Jr., and N.C. Department of Adult Corrections Investigators Samuel Poloche and William “Alden” Elliott.