1 killed in trooper-involved shooting in Lenoir County
KINSTON, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Highway Patrol trooper shot and killed a man that was reportedly running towards him with a gun in Lenoir County on Sunday.
Highway Patrol said it happened at Club Aries near the intersection of Suttontown Road and Poole Road.
The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office called Highway Patrol to assist with a shooting that happened at the club around 2:15 a.m.
A woman who was at the club said there were hundreds of people packed the place. "There were so many of us, we were falling on top of each other," she said.
She says some women started fighting inside the club and a bullet wounded one of them in the foot.
When the trooper arrived and exited his vehicle, he says he saw two men running towards him. The trooper said one of the men had a gun. According to the trooper, the man with the gun did not listen to commands to stop and drop the weapon.
The man reportedly pointed the gun directly at the trooper, and the trooper fired his weapon.
The man was killed. The second man was taken into custody without incident, troopers said.
The State Bureau of Investigation is the investigating agency in the trooper-involved shooting.
"This type of incident is a reminder of the serious and dangerous situations our troopers face every single day," North Carolina State Highway Patrol Colonel William Grey said in a press release. "We are saddened by the loss of life but grateful that our trooper is safe."
The trooper is a six year veteran assigned to the Troop A District 7 Kinston Highway Patrol office located in Lenoir County. He has been placed on Administrative Duty pending an internal investigation which is standard operating procedure in all trooper-involved shootings.
