UPDATE:
WATAUGA COUNTY, N.C. — Five people, including two deputies, were killed following a 13-hour standoff in Watauga County, the sheriff confirmed on Thursday morning.
Authorities said two deputies died in the shooting that prompted a daylong standoff Wednesday that dragged into the night with law enforcement officers surrounding a home.
Reporter Dave Faherty spoke with Watauga County Sheriff Len Hagaman Thursday morning and he said two deputies, as well as the suspect and the suspect’s mother and stepfather, had died. The suspect’s name has not been released.
Breaking Boone- sheriff Hagaman just spoke with us confirming the second deputy has died. They also found the suspect’s mother and stepfather deceased. Police had been to the home over the weekend. The latest on the investigation today at noon, 5pm and 6pm. pic.twitter.com/uV0WlhTnOX
— Dave Faherty (@FahertyWSOC9) April 29, 2021
The sheriff confirmed on Thursday that Fox died at the scene, WSOC-TV reported.
Hagaman said a Boone police officer, a Boone firefighter and and App State police officer tried to rescue the wounded deputies, but were shot at as well. The Boone police officer was hit by gunfire, but was not injured since the bullet hit his Kevlar helmet, the sheriff said.
Hagaman said that deputies had been to the home over the weekend but it was unclear why.
Original report:
BOONE, N.C. — A 13-hour standoff at a home in Boone, N.C., ended after one sheriff’s deputy was killed and another wounded. The suspect appears to have killed himself late Wednesday night. A name has not been released, according to the Morganton News-Herald.
In a 9 p.m. update Wednesday, roughly 10 hours after police issued a shelter-in-place order to local residents, Watauga County Sheriff Len Hagaman identified Sgt. Chris Ward as the deputy who was airlifted to a hospital in Johnson, Tenn., and later succumbed to his injuries. The second, identified as K9 Deputy Logan Fox, was still inside the home where an armed person has continued to “periodically” fire at police who have surrounded the building and evacuated the neighborhood. Authorities have yet to provide another update on Fox’s condition.
BREAKING: unfortunately Sgt. Chris Ward died after he was flown to the hospital. Deputy Logan Fox remains at the scene, but his condition is unknown. The shooter is still barricaded inside, periodically firing his gun toward officers. #Boome #Watauga
— 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕟 𝔽𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤 (@MorganFOX46) April 29, 2021
Images posted to a Facebook profile under Ward’s name and job description show a collection of black-banded police badges in honor of other deputies who were killed in the line of duty in the state. One of them was fellow Watauga County Sheriff’s Deputy William Ronald Mast Jr., 23, who was ambushed while responding to a call in 2012, FOX News reported.