A chilling video recorded by a neighbor capturing the shootout between Charlotte police and two gunmen exchanging a flurry of bullets, that left four officers dead and injured four others has emerged. A Facebook livestream posted by Saing Chhoeun shows two heavily armed police officers seeking cover behind a vehicle while engaging in a gunfight on Monday.
The video begins with a terrified neighbor appearing to be locked outside his home, urgently requesting someone to unlock the door and let him in. The officers repeatedly urge the neighbor to seek shelter inside his home, but keeps telling them that he's unable to do so as he doesn't have the keys.
Bullets for Bullets
The shooting happened as four officers were trying to serve a warrant for felon Terry Clark Hughes, who was wanted for firearm possession and was shot dead during the gunfire.
Samuel 'Sam' Polche, William 'Alden' Elliot, and Charlotte police officer Joshua Eyer were killed on Monday following the harrowing shooting as they tried to serve a warrant. Both Polche and Elliot were officers with the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections, assigned to the US Marshal's office.
The identity of the US Marshal killed in the attack has not been revealed.
Some of the officers who quickly responded to the Charlotte neighborhood to help the first group of injured officers were themselves wounded when a second shooter began firing at them.
This second shooter started the gunfire after Huges was shot dead, as revealed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings.
"When [officers] approached Hughes they were met by gunfire and returned the gunfire, striking Hughes, who was found deceased in a yard," Jennings said.
Officers then received "additional gunfire" originating from within the home. However, it remains unclear which officers were struck by the bullets and how many officers were injured overall.
As the investigation into the gunfight continues, the identity of the second shooter remains unclear. Charlotte police have said that a woman and a 17-year-old teenager, who were found in the home following the shootout, are being questioned.
Investigation Still On
"On Monday, April 29, 2024, an armed suspect opened fire on law enforcement officers in the 5000 block of Galway Drive in the North Tryon Division," police wrote in an April 29 news release.
"The deceased suspect has been identified as Terry Clark Hughes, Jr, 39," police wrote. WSOC-TV reporter Joe Bruno confirmed that the mugshot is Hughes Jr on X, formerly Twitter, this morning.
"Four Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers were shot, one of which succumbed to his injuries. Additionally, four officers from the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were shot, three of which succumbed to their injuries," CMPD wrote.
Authorities found a woman and a 17-year-old boy inside the home following the three-hour standoff, which involved armored vehicles crashing into the suburban home located in a tree-lined neighborhood and causing damage to doorways and windows.
Several officers also sustained injuries while trying to rescue their fallen colleagues who had been wounded during the confrontation.
"Today is an absolute tragic day for the city of Charlotte and for the profession of law enforcement," Jennings said, according to WRAL. "Today we lost some heroes that are out to just simply try to keep our community safe."
Neighbors reported that gunfire continued for several minutes after the initial shooting erupted.
The specific number and types of firearms involved in the incident remained unclear, but Jennings indicated that one of the shooters used a "high-powered rifle" during the exchange of gunfire.
"They lost their lives after they gave us the opportunity to be in safe place," said Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, fighting back tears.
"The most I can ask of our community is that we honor and respect them for all the work that they've done, for all the work that we'll do, to make it possible for our city to be safer."
