Sheriff: Deputy Who Killed Man During Warrant Is On Leave

(AP) — At least one law enforcement officer with a sheriff’s department in North Carolina shot and killed a man while executing a search warrant Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said.

The shooting happened Wednesday morning in Elizabeth City in the eastern part of the state, the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The races of the officers involved and man shot weren’t immediately clear. WAVY-TV reported that neighbors heard multiple shots fired.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting.

A North Carolina sheriff says the deputy who shot and killed a man while serving a search warrant has been put on leave pending an investigation. Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II did not identify the deputy who fired the shot Wednesday. He told a news conference that the deputy was wearing a body camera that was on at the time. District Attorney Andrew Womble said an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation would be thorough and “will not be a rush to judgment.”

The shooting happened about 8:30 a.m. in the city of nearly 18,000, located 170 miles (274 km) northeast of Raleigh.

The sheriff didn’t immediately respond to an email asking about the race of the man shot and the officer or officers involved.

A crowd gathered around the shooting scene, which was blocked off by police tape and with multiple law enforcement cruisers with their lights flashing, according to footage from WAVY.

Elizabeth City Councilman Darius Horton told the station that he and other members of the community came out because they wanted to know what happened.

“We’re here demanding answers,” he said.

The sentiment was echoed by Keith Rivers, the president of the Pasquotank NAACP.

“The sheriff needs to address these people. The sheriff needs to talk to community leaders to let us know what is going on so that we can be a part of this process,” Rivers said.