Case Update: Single Shooter and No Friendly Fire Confirmed in April 29

Published on May 31, 2024

Charlotte, N.C. – (Friday, May 31, 2024) – The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) confirmed during a press conference this evening that there was only one shooting suspect and no friendly gunfire that took place during the April 29 tragic attack on law enforcement officers in the 5000 block of Galway Drive in the North Tryon Division. The shooting took the lives of four officers and wounded seven others.

Early in the investigation, there were multiple accounts of a potential second shooter, however, after a thorough review of the evidence and interviews, detectives determined that there was only one shooter on the scene.

The investigation revealed that the suspect moved back and forth between three windows --- the window located at the front of the house, the window located at the back of the house through the bathroom and the window located on the side of the house through another bedroom. Based on interviews, the suspect told the two female occupants to “get out or get down” before he fired his weapon. The suspect then shot an AR-15 rifle out of the back and side windows over a span of 17 minutes before jumping out the front window where he was shot by officers and pronounced deceased by MEDIC in the front yard.

Due to constant gunfire from multiple directions, some officers believed that there was a second shooter, but evidence shows only one shooter was inside the house. The investigation indicates that the only shell casings collected at the scene inside the home are consistent with the AR-15 rifle recovered near the suspect’s body in the front yard. The suspect only used one of his firearms during this incident, the AR-15 rifle. No other firearms were located in the house.

At this point in the incident, eight officers were already shot. Other officers were moving in to evacuate the wounded after shots were fired from the house. One suspect was down outside the home. However, the house had not been cleared yet or rendered safe.

As a team of officers approached the side of the home to evacuate the wounded, an officer observed movement from the same window where gunfire previously rained down. That officer fired one round into that bedroom. Other officers heard active gunfire and they made a tactical decision to utilize suppressive gunfire which was directed at the second floor of the home toward the two windows so that officers could help evacuate the wounded. The investigation concluded that no officers were shot or shot at by other fellow officers while attempting to engage the suspect (considered friendly fire). CMPD confirms that there was no friendly fire in this case and that the suspect was responsible for all who were shot in the line of duty that day.

The investigation into this case is active and ongoing. As additional information develops, it will be released by the CMPD’s Public Affairs Division. For more information about this case, please refer to the report: 20240429-1333-00.

Graphics from the press conference can be accessed here: https://cmpd.pica9.com/cd/boards/show/hash/754eaa7a-660c-30a0-7add-879c3683c385

###