CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Several officers on a task force trying to serve a warrant in a suburban Charlotte, North Carolina, neighborhood were shot Monday afternoon, police said.
Officers from several agencies in the U.S. Marshals Task Force were carrying out the operation in a suburban neighborhood when “a subject” began firing at them and multiple officers were shot, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a post on X.
Gunfire continued for several minutes. A SWAT team was in the neighborhood on the east side of the city, police said.
Nearly two hours after the shooting started, police said the scene was still unsafe and promised an update with more information “as soon as the situation stabilizes.”
Authorities did not say exactly how many officers were struck by gunfire. WSOC-TV said their helicopter captured an armored vehicle driving through yards and knocking over recycling bins before officers removed a person with blood on their shirt who was then loaded into an ambulance.
Many roads in the area were closed so ambulances could get to hospitals faster. TV footage showed ambulances speeding to hospitals with several vehicles with sirens on both in front and behind them.
Kiashia Williams was driving home when she heard several shots separated by a few seconds.
“Ambulances, police and everything everywhere just started rushing down,” said Williams as she waited in her car to be allowed to go home and check on her daughter, who broadcast what she saw on social media.
Police urged people to stay away from the neighborhood and asked residents to remain inside their homes.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he was in contact with law enforcement in Charlotte and offered any state resources to help.
Authorities did not immediately specify the nature of the warrant being served by the task force operation.
The Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force is headquartered in Charlotte with 70 federal, state and local agencies. Fugitive task forces are collaborations between agencies to find and arrest suspects in crimes.
In six years, the regional task force has apprehend more than 8,900 fugitives, the U.S. Marshals Service said on its website.
In March 2007, two Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers were killed responding to a domestic dispute by someone not directly involved in the fight. Demeatrius Antonio Montgomery is serving a life sentence in the killings of officers Jeffrey Shelton and Sean Clark.