The authorities in Charlotte, N.C., said Tuesday that a man who had opened fire a day earlier on officers trying to serve arrest warrants on him, killing four of them, was armed with a powerful AR-15-style rifle and a 40-caliber handgun.
At a news conference, officials said the suspect, Terry Clark Hughes Jr., had opened fire from the second floor of his house, leaving four members of a fugitive task force dead and four other officers injured.
The shootout on Monday was one of the deadliest for American law enforcement in recent years. The suspect was killed in the front yard of the home.
More than 100 rounds littered the scene, said Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. He added that it was not clear how many rounds had been fired by the suspect and how many by the at least 12 officers who returned fire.
Officials described a city and state that was in mourning. North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, said that he had met with the families of the slain officers.
“Dangerous assignments are part of the job, but they step up and do it anyway to protect our communities and protect our families,” he said.
Here’s what to know.
What happened in Charlotte?
A group of officers, who were from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, went to serve warrants to a suspect around 1:30 p.m., the police said in a statement. The suspect, later identified as Terry Clark Hughes Jr., 39, was wanted for being a felon possessing a firearm and for eluding arrest.
As they approached the house, Mr. Hughes opened fire, striking several officers, the police said. When he stepped out of the house, holding a gun, officers judged that he posed an “imminent deadly threat” and shot him, the police said. Mr. Hughes was later pronounced dead.
The officers were met with more gunfire from inside the house, the police said. After a long standoff and negotiations, two females came out of the house and were taken to a police station to be interviewed. One was 17 years old, according to Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, who said Tuesday that they were cooperating and had not been charged.
Mr. Jennings said on Tuesday that the department was sifting through body camera videos to determine an accurate timeline.
Eight officers were wounded during the shootout and taken to hospitals. Three were pronounced dead on arrival, and another died from his injuries on Monday night.
The officers were from multiple agencies.
Four members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were shot, and three of them died, the police said.
The task force was made up of officers from multiple agencies, who often team up to find and arrest suspects. Those killed included two veteran officers of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott.
The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that one of its deputy marshals, Thomas Weeks, was among those killed.
Four members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were also shot, one of whom died from his injuries on Monday night, the police said on social media. The officer who died, Joshua Eyer, had been helping other officers arrest the suspect when he was shot, the police said.
“Losing a deputy, losing task force officers is like losing a family member because quite frankly, they are family members,” Ronald L. Davis, the director of the U.S. Marshals Service, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
How often do shootings like this happen?
This was one of the deadliest recent attacks on law enforcement in the United States.
In July 2016, four police officers and one transit officer were killed in downtown Dallas after an armed sniper opened fire during a demonstration against fatal shootings by the police. The police killed the gunman with an explosive sent by a remote-controlled robot.
That same month, a gunman fatally shot three officers and injured three others in Baton Rouge, La. The gunman was killed during a shootout.
Chief Jennings described Monday’s shooting as the most tragic of his more than three decades with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Adeel Hassan and Eduardo Medina contributed reporting.
