Biden stops in Charlotte during his NC trip to meet families of fallen law enforcement officers

Table Of Content

• Charlotte Fire identifies two killed in massive SouthPark construction fire
• Biden stops in Charlotte during his NC trip to meet families of fallen law enforcement officers
• Four law enforcement officers killed while serving warrant in North Carolina
• Deadly fire breaks out at construction site in SouthPark area of Charlotte

"We may be talking about more tragedy than ... we're talking about today," Johnson said Friday of the life-threatening situation his firefighters experienced Thursday. I also want to commend the heroic efforts by the Charlotte Fire Department, putting their lives on the line to help rescue 15 individuals. This is a demonstration of what serving the community is all about.

Charlotte Fire identifies two killed in massive SouthPark construction fire

Speaking outside the smoking building, the fire quickly engulfed the site even as workers fled. But Charlotte Fire Department Chief Reginald Johnson said Friday evening that the remains of two workers had been found in the smoldering wreckage. Johnson said their bodies had been sent to the medical examiner's office for identification. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles identified one as Demonte Sherill, a father of four. Large clouds of smoke and flames shot hundreds of feet in the air from the area of Barclay Downs Drive and Fairview Road, near SouthPark Mall. Officials said firefighters were tasked with extinguishing the "very fast-moving" fire, which was over 2,000 degrees.

Biden stops in Charlotte during his NC trip to meet families of fallen law enforcement officers

By 6 p.m., Fairview Road was reopened during the congested evening commute. Charlotte fire said while they were battling the blaze, they had several "Maydays," which means crews were either trapped or had access issues when escaping. We’ve been advised to stay away from the SouthPark area until further notice and residents who live nearby, please stay inside. Please allow @charlottefire, @CMPD, and MEDIC time to do their work and protect our city. Sáenz was sent video taken close to the scene of the fire. The video shows debris and ash falling as the flames rip through the construction site.

Four law enforcement officers killed while serving warrant in North Carolina

SouthPark Mall was closed due to the proximity of the fire and motorists were advised to stay away from the area as several roads were closed. Officials asked the public to not call 911 unless there is an absolute emergency. Mayor Vi Lyles named one of the deceased workers as Demonte Sherrill.

During the shooting, four other CMPD officers were injured. They were identified Tuesday as Chris Talley, Michael Giglio, Jack Blowers, and Joshua Campbell. But as of Thursday afternoon, two workers who were in the area of the construction site where the fire initially broke out remain unaccounted for, the newspaper added. "We rescued 15 people from the fire," said Charlotte Fire Department Chief Reginald Johnson. "And the men and women of this department put themselves in harm's way and had to call for assistance themselves to get out of this fire. That's how fast it was moving." The deaths of Sherrill and Holmes came after an apartment complex still under construction burst into flames on Thursday morning after a spray foam insulation trailer caught fire.

He described what happened when news of the fire spread. Another worker told Channel 9 that a foam-spraying machine caught fire and then spread to the floors above. By about noon, the majority of the flames had been extinguished, and firefighters were focused on dousing hotspots throughout the building. Construction worker Demonte Sherrill, 30, died in the fire, family members said. EPA estimates that North Carolina has 370,000 lead pipes, and $76 million will go to replace them statewide. Biden also will meet with faculty and students at a Wilmington school that replaced a water fountain with high levels of lead with money from the law.

‘We’ll get to him.’ Ladder 2 was lost — but saved hope for the man on the crane. - Charlotte Observer

‘We’ll get to him.’ Ladder 2 was lost — but saved hope for the man on the crane..

Posted: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Residents living near Galway Drive, which is located near Julian Underwood Park, were told to stay inside their homes until police were able to make the neighborhood safe around 5 p.m. The shooting occurred at a home not far from the intersection of The Plaza and Milton Road. The CMPD SWAT team and MEDIC's mass casualty unit were among those who responded to the shooting scene. After officers shot Hughes, SWAT negotiated with the others inside the home. "I do know that they were immediately met with gunfire," Johnny Jennings, the CMPD police chief, said Tuesday.

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Charlotte firefighters respond to massive five-alarm fire in SouthPark - WBTV

Charlotte firefighters respond to massive five-alarm fire in SouthPark.

Posted: Thu, 18 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

"He said there's a man shooting over there," the neighbor told WCNC Charlotte's Jesse Pierre. "Man, we never had nothing like this before. Never. I've been over here for 27 years. It's wild, man." Inside the neighborhood, WCNC Charlotte spoke with a neighbor who said he received a phone call from someone explaining there was a shooting in the area.

Biden was headed to a speech in Wilmington, North Carolina, and added on the visit to see the families, as well as officers officers wounded in the shooting. A Stateville police officer was also hurt in the shooting. Corporal Casey Hoover was serving as a member of the U.S. Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force when he was shot in the upper part of his body.

When they approached the residence, the suspect, later identified as Terry Clark Hughes Jr., fired at them with an AR-15-style rifle and a 40-caliber handgun from the second floor of a house, the police said. He was later pronounced dead in the front yard of the residence. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, who spoke at Monday's news conference, said the community must honor the deputy marshals who lost their lives and the wounded officers. The city's police chief announced Monday night that a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who had been wounded, Joshua Eyer, had also died.

"There's indication that the suspect saw them coming to the house prior to them getting to the front door." The violence broke out as the task force was serving a warrant on a suspect in possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The subject, who was not publicly identified, began shooting with a high-powered rifle, Jennings said. Task force members returned fire and killed the suspect in the home's front yard, he said.

The blaze also involved a building in a construction zone which partially collapsed, the Charlotte Observer reported. Both men were part of the construction crew working on the upscale apartment buildings when the fire broke out. The two men killed in a massive construction fire in SouthPark have been positively identified. The Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office says Demonte Sherrill and Ruben Holmes were both killed in the fire.

The fire was started by a trailer that was spraying insulation material as part of the construction efforts. Johnson said the firefighters could not see the trapped men but "were going by sound and trying to get to them." Investigators think the fire started in a trailer used to spray insulation into the building's walls, Johnson said. Looking back at past five-alarm fires in Charlotte's history, a storage building was destroyed by a five-alarm fire in southwest Charlotte in July 2022.

A construction supervisor told WCNC Charlotte one of his employees working on the site, 60-year-old Ruben Holmes, has not been seen or heard from since the fire. Both of the victims were officially identified by the Charlotte Fire Department on Tuesday. Fire investigators have confirmed the fire began accidentally.

The police killed the gunman, Micah Johnson, 25, with an explosive sent by a remote-controlled robot. In all, four members of the task force were shot, three of whom died. The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction said in a statement that two of its veteran officers, Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott, were killed.

Firefighters themselves had to be rescued after they became trapped while rescuing others in the fast-moving fire. One of the firefighters heard the cries of people trapped on the sixth floor but couldn't see them through the smoke, Johnson said. "I am deeply saddened by the shooting that occurred," Vi Lyles, Charlotte's mayor, said on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. "I ask that all Charlotteans keep them, and the other injured officers, and their families in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time." As the police approached the shooter, Chief Jennings told reporters, the officers were met with more gunfire from inside the home. After a long standoff, two women in the home were taken to a police station to be interviewed, the police later said in a statement.