Person County deputy on leave after shooting, killing man firing shots in the air on public road

PERSON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- One Person County deputy is on leave as state investigators look into a deadly shooting that happened Sunday evening.

It began around 6 p.m. at the intersection of Mt. Harmony Church Road and Cousin Road. There deputies found a vehicle in the ditch and a man walking in the road with a gun in his hand.

That was was waiving at vehicles as they drove past.

Deputies said the man even fired multiple shots into the air.

"Suspect was armed. Fired several shots in the air. *unintelligible* fired two rounds," one deputy can be heard saying on police radio.

Deputies said the man then started moving toward them. They say they told him multiple times to stop and drop his gun, but he refused.

One of the deputies opened fire. The man later died from gunshot wounds.

The identity of the deputies and the man who died have not been released.

The Person County Sheriff's Office said there was dashcam and bodycam video of the incident. Both have been submitted to the North Carolina SBI, which is taking over the investigation.