‘They had him on gunpoint:’ Witnesses describe scene of officer-involved shooting

By Justin Berger

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    HENDERSON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — A day after the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies were involved in a vehicle pursuit and exchange of gunfire outside the Pisgah National Forest on Saturday, April 13, a News 13 crew spoke with a couple who witnessed guns drawn following that chase.

“You never see cops up here,” Autumn Cantrell said Sunday, April 14. “I’ve never once… You’ll see maybe the occasional game warden, but to see that many, there was at least 10 cop cars that came up here, sirens blaring and I was just like woah.”

“Definitely nothing you would see up here on the daily, that’s for sure,” Jeremiah Justice added.

Cantrell and Justice said they were driving up North Mills River Road around 7 p.m. or so Saturday, ready to make camp in the Pisgah National Forest.

They were told to turn around.

“I seen a Henderson County deputy diagonal in the road,” Justice said. “He was on the passenger side down on his knee across the hood with his firearm drawn on the suspect across the road… there was a truck up on the bank, it looked like it went up there sideways or maybe they was chasing it and he wrecked right there, but that’s where the chase ended at. They had him, like I said, on gunpoint.” A News 13 crew noticed crime scene tape marking a large portion of both sides of North Mills River Road.

Close by, there also appeared to be several car parts, broken glass and a significant amount of blood in the road.

According to a release from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded just after 6 p.m. Saturday to a disturbance in the North Mills River Campground. It was reported someone was threatening people with a gun.

When deputies arrived, they say the suspect fled, eventually crashing his van and firing a gun.

The company that runs the North Mills River Campground referred News 13 to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office for comment, though the sheriff’s office said it will not release any further information, as the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation.

The deputies involved have been put on administrative leave.

No status was given on the condition of the suspect or law enforcement officers.

Cantrell and Justice say they camp there often and have never felt unsafe.

“It is a little bit of a relief knowing that they are patrolling up here,” Justice said,

News 13 has reached out to the State Bureau of Investigation and has not heard back.

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