Man shot by deputy enforcing eviction order after hourslong standoff in Raleigh, sheriff says

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A tenant who refused to be evicted from a Raleigh apartment was shot by a deputy Tuesday afternoon.

The shooting happened hours after deputies arrived at The Oaks Apartments on Water Oaks Drive around 10:45 a.m. The Wake County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) said deputies were there to serve an eviction order and the man refused to leave. He barricaded himself inside the apartment which started a standoff that went well into early evening hours.

Investigators evacuated nearby apartments as a precaution.

Officers surrounded the apartment complex and worked for nearly seven hours to get the man to come out.

Around 5:30 p.m. deputies went inside the apartment to enforce the eviction order and remove the man. During the attempt to remove him, one deputy discharged his gun wounding the man, WCSO says in a news release.

The Wake County Sheriff's Office said the man was taken to WakeMed with serious injuries.

The man nor the deputy who shot him have been identified.

"We have requested the State Bureau of Investigation conduct an independent investigation into this incident. Concurrently, we will be conducting an internal investigation and review to determine if our deputies followed the policies of this office," Sheriff Willie Rowe said.

Neighbors React to Standoff

It made for a nerve-wracking day for those who live in that community. All of them were finally let back into their homes as night fell.

Nancy Wingate found out about the commotion in her northeast Raleigh apartment complex when she was at work. She then realized she knew the man who was shot by deputies.

"He lives right across from me. He's been out here for like 10 years, yeah," Wingate said.

She said she hadn't seen him for a while. She saw him walking to the garbage area a few months ago

"I never checked on him, and they said if they have to go in and get him out that they have to go in shooting because he has a gun," Wingate said. "I'm feeling so bad for him/"

"They told me I couldn't go home, that police had it wrapped off, and they told me somebody was being evicted and they refused to comply with the sheriff's department, and they pulled a gun on him," Wingate said.

The sheriff's office said one of its members entered the residence in an attempt to remove the man. One deputy opened fire during that time.

Radio traffic described first responders arriving at the complex off Louisburg Road to take the man to the hospital

Tiffany Tallerino also couldn't get home for hours as a result of the incident. She said she felt like her complex needed to inform residents sooner of what was going on.

"I get a text from the apartment complex," she said. "It's quiet, we never have any violence. This is a serious thing, and we should've been notified immediately."

Wake deputies and Raleigh police officers were on the scene, and a forensics team pulled into the complex later in the day.

The spectacle left some neighbors overwhelmed by it all.

"Neighbors can't go get their mothers, I can't go get my dogs, it's very, very sad... just sad ... never know what a person is going through," Wingate said.

The investigation has been turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation, which is standard when a law enforcement officer discharges a service weapon.

"We have requested the State Bureau of Investigation conduct an independent investigation into this incident. Concurrently, we will be conducting an internal investigation and review to determine if our deputies followed the policies of this office," Sheriff Willie Rowe said.

The SBI told ABC11 that it did not have any additional information to share.

ABC11 also reached out to the apartment complex office for comment but has not heard back.

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