Suspect in Cumberland County standoff found dead in home
FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A standoff involving Cumberland County deputies ended Wednesday afternoon when the suspect fatally shot himself, the sheriff's office said.
It happened at a home near Summerwind Drive and Shaw Road after deputies responded to a domestic violence call.
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Veronica Brower told authorities she and her boyfriend began arguing and he was physically violent so she ran out into the yard to call 911.
When deputies arrived, the suspect fired a shot at the patrol car, and deputies returned fire.
"I told police he shot at me," Brower said. "And so when the police came up, he shot at the police."
Brower's boyfriend, later identified as 52-year-old Vann Williams, then went inside the trailer home.
Deputies, along with Fayetteville police officers, sealed off the area and evacuated the mobile home park. Many residents gathered across the road to watch the tense standoff.
Deputies tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with Williams and later threw tear gas inside. Finally, officers used a robot to enter the residence, said Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright.
"We tried to smoke him out, but that didn't work," Wright said.
Wright said that using the robot, they spotted the Williams, unresponsive, lying on the floor inside the home.
He died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The sheriff's deputy who fired his service weapon has been placed on administrative leave, as is standard practice, while the State Bureau of Investigations looks into the incident.
The deputy was not immediately identified.
