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News Roundup

WLOS reports that Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Hendrix died yesterday after being shot while responding to the scene of a car break-in where gunfire had been exchanged by the owner of the car and the person breaking into it.  Early Thursday morning, deputies responded to the Mountain Home community in Hendersonville where a resident reported that someone was breaking into his car, where he kept a gun.  They found Robert Ray Doss, Jr., in a nearby truck and made contact with him.  After first appearing to cooperate with the deputies, Doss fired a shot that hit Hendrix.  Other deputies at the scene then shot and killed Doss.  Hendrix is a Marine veteran who has been with the department since 2012.  Keep reading for more news.

Brooks.  Earlier this summer the News Roundup noted that there were divided opinions in Roxboro in response to a police officer fatally shooting David Brooks, Jr., while responding to a 911 call reporting that Brooks was walking down the street carrying a gun, with some asking whether the use of deadly force was appropriate.

CBS 17 reports that District Attorney Mike Waters announced this week that a review of dash camera footage of the incident led him to conclude that the officer had a reasonable belief that his life was in danger and was justified in shooting Brooks because the video showed that Brooks pointed a shotgun at the officer.  The police department released a statement saying that it is committed to working with the NAACP and community leaders during an internal administrative investigation of the incident and that the officer who shot Brooks will remain on administrative leave during that investigation.

Fake Drugs.  ABC 11 reported this week that several drug cases in Wake County dating from December 2019 to May 2020 are under review because it appears that drug buys involving a paid confidential informant yielded substances that weren’t actually illegal drugs.  Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told ABC 11 that the issue first came to light in February and described the situation as one where the informant provided false information to law enforcement.  All of the cases involve heroin trafficking charges and the same detective, who is on administrative leave while the investigation is being conducted.  Many of the cases apparently already have been dismissed.

Davidson County.  The Winston-Salem Journal reports that the family of a man who was shot and killed by Davidson County sheriff’s deputies earlier this year while he was the passenger in a stolen vehicle that was being chased has filed a federal lawsuit alleging use of excessive force.  John Mark Hendrick was in the front passenger seat of a stolen vehicle being driven by Charles Justin Boothe who refused to pull over for a traffic stop.

According to the lawsuit, Hendrick and another passenger repeatedly asked Boothe to let them out of the vehicle and also called 911 while the chase was ongoing.  The suit further alleges that after deputies disabled the vehicle with a “pit” maneuver, two deputies, Barry Lee Bartrug III and Matthew Jacob Shelton, exited their patrol cars and immediately began firing at the passenger area of the vehicle.  Hendrick was shot in the head and instantly killed.  The Journal report says that Davidson County District Attorney Garry Frank has said that he plans to file criminal charges in the incident but has not said what the nature of the charges will be.

Hamas Arms Deal.  Earlier this year in a post discussing the legality of demonstrating with guns, Jonathan linked to a news article about a COVID lockdown protest where several people carried various weapons into a Raleigh Subway restaurant while they ordered sandwiches.

This week the News & Observer reported that one person who attended that event, Benjamin Ryan Teeter who is from Hampstead, has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization.  A U.S. Justice Department press release says that Teeter and another man, Michael Robert Solomon, are self-described Boogaloo Bois who delivered suppressors and parts to convert a rifle to fully automatic operation to an undercover FBI agent whom they believed was a senior member of Hamas.  At that time, they expressed interest in delivering more suppressors and automatic weapon parts to the group.

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