1 of 3 | A makeshift memorial marks the area in which four officers were killed and four others injured while serving warrants for the arrest of Terry Clark Hughes Jr. in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday. Photo by Veasey Conway/EPA-EFE
April 30 (UPI) — A day after a shooting left four law-enforcement officers dead in North Carolina, authorities on Tuesday identified the suspected gunman, saying he had a lengthy criminal record.
Police said Terry Clark Hughes Jr., 39, had faced 49 criminal charges since 2001 and was convicted of crimes in many parts of North Carolina, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday. He served time in prison in 2011 and 2013, and in 2021 he was accused of marijuana-related offenses.
Hughes died in the gunfight on Monday in which he and possibly others shot and killed three U.S. Marshals and another officer and wounded four others at about 1:30 p.m. EDT in the 5000 block of Galway Drive in Charlotte, WXII 12 reported.
The officers were trying to serve two warrants for Hughes’ arrest on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and fleeing and eluding, both of which are felonies.
Three of the slain officers were members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, and the fourth victim was a member of the local Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Police officers recovered an AR-15 rifle and a .40-caliber pistol inside the home and detained a woman and a 17-year-old, ABC News reported.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings told news media that police investigators found more than 100 bullet casings and projectiles inside the home.
He said Hughes was on the home’s second floor when he opened fire and he had the officers at a tactical disadvantage.
Jennings said investigators are looking into how Hughes obtained the firearms and, he said, the woman and teen are cooperating with the investigation.
The slain officers were identified as Sam Poloche, Alden Elliott, Joshua Eyer and Thomas Weeks Jr.
