AUTRYVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) – The Fayetteville police officer shot in Sampson County Monday night was shot in the face following a crash and altercation near his home, according to a police report from the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred around 8:50 p.m. on Hayes Mill Road in Autryville, officials said.
According to the report, deputies were called to an area of Hayes Mill Road in reference to a gunshot victim. Before arriving at the scene, the sheriff’s office had been advised that the suspect from the shooting was involved in a crash involving another man before the shooting occurred.
The officer shot has been identified as Justin Ryan Mathews, 31, of Autryville.
Authorities said that by the time deputies arrived on scene, Matthews had been transported to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center by the man who was involved in the crash with the suspect.
According to the report, a witness to the shooting was run off the road by a man driving a white truck towing a camper. That man was later identified as the suspect, Joseph Edwards, 63.
The witness told deputies that Edwards ran him off the road and while trying to get the plate off the vehicle, the man entered the driveway of a home on Hayes Mill Road and began to turn around in the yard. While doing so, Edwards damaged multiple trees in the yard.
While the suspect was trying to exit the yard, Mathews ran out of his house and confronted Edwards.
The witness told deputies that Mathews and Edwards were arguing when Edwards took out a gun and shot the officer in the face.
Despite being shot, Mathews ran back into the home and came back out with a gun and shot back at Edwards’ vehicle, the report shows.
The witness told deputies that immediately after the shooting, Edwards used his truck to ram his vehicle from the driveway so he could leave the scene.
According to the sheriff’s office, they discovered the suspect sitting in his vehicle in the middle of Dunn Road.
When officers from the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol tried to talk the suspect into surrendering, the suspect tried to ram into the law enforcement officers with his vehicle.
Officers then fired at the suspect, striking him. The man was injured in the shooting and transferred by Sampson County EMS to an undisclosed hospital.
Mathews suffered serious injuries in the shooting and was in stable condition at last check, according to Fayetteville police.
Edwards’ condition has not been released.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Bureau of Investigation are handling the case, the sheriff’s office said.
