Man found guilty of gun count after Hertford Co shooting

A federal jury in Wilmington convicted an Ahoskie man this week of possessing ammunition.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Talametrius Kenyon Spruill, 42, possessed four cartridge cases that were discarded after he fired at Hertford County sheriff's deputies in the early morning hours of July 16, 2023.

Officers responded to a suspicious person call after a woman reported someone knocking on her window at 3 a.m.

The first responding deputy found Spruill sitting in the front passenger seat of the homeowner's vehicle, holding a gun.

The deputy ordered Spruill to put the gun away when he fled toward the woodline behind the residence.

The second deputy saw Spruill in the wooden lineup as he pulled up in his patrol car.

The deputy immediately exited his vehicle with his gun drawn and announced, “Sheriff's Office, show me your hands,” as he approached Spruill, who was now crouched in a shallow drainage ditch behind a neighboring house.

Spruill did not show his hands and instead fired a Glock 19 semi-automatic handgun four times at the deputy.

The deputy retreated and retaliated by tripping over a doghouse on the property and being bitten by the resident's dog.

Despite the exchange of gunfire, neither the deputy nor Spruill was hit.

Spruill managed to evade deputies and abandon his firearm in a junkyard.

The next night, Hertford County deputies were dispatched to respond to a call about a suspicious person four miles away in Aulander, where they found Spruill attempting to crawl under his aunt's house. Spruill was arrested and questioned by the FBI, where he confessed that he was at the original crime scene, ran from police, and discharged his firearm before running away. dispose of in the scrapyard.

“Gun violence and attacks on law enforcement are an attack on the rule of law itself,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “We prioritize all cases where a criminal draws, levels or fires a firearm at law enforcement. I personally met the MPs in this matter and praised their courage and composure under fire. They did their job honorably and we are proud to do ours by obtaining this guilty verdict. North Carolinians should be grateful for their sacrifice and thankful that they survived.

Hertford County Sheriff Dexter Hayes said, “July 16 changed the lives of these deputies. Today, justice for this horrible day has been served. Thank you to the U.S. Attorney's Office and our partners at the FBI for their time and effort in this case. Thank you to the MPs who got involved in this matter, they did a remarkable job on July 16, 2023 and continue to do so today.”

Spruill faces a maximum sentence of 180 months in prison if sentenced at a later date. Spruill still faces state charges for two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on government officials and possession of a firearm by a felon related to that crime.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence.