Neighbors react after deputy shoots woman in Hope Mills: 'Never seen anything like it'
HOPE MILLS, N.C. (WTVD) -- Cumberland County residents say they are still trying to process the scene that unfolded Tuesday night after a sheriff's deputy shot a woman during a domestic violence call on Camden Road.
"We knew something had happened. We didn't know what had happened," resident Priscilla Dudley said. She told ABC11 she was sitting on her porch when emergency lights filled the street. "It was like Christmas lights, blue lights. Blue lights... There were police and ambulances everywhere."
According to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to the home in Hope Mills for a domestic violence call. When they arrived, authorities say they encountered a woman armed with a knife and ordered her to drop it. Deputies say the situation escalated when she refused, and a deputy opened fire after she allegedly lunged toward them.
"That was crazy. You know, it's really close to home," said neighbor Toni Stewart. She described a massive law enforcement response. "A lot of police vehicles. There were probably 11 or 12 of them that went by, and then a couple of ambulances came. They had everything blocked off."
Deputies performed lifesaving measures until medics arrived. The woman, whose name has not been released, remains in the hospital.
Stewart, who has lived in the neighborhood since the 1970s, said she has never seen anything like the response.
County officials say the suspect faces a long recovery. The deputies involved have been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
