Police officer and armed suspect shot at Hickory bar, department says

A police officer and an armed suspect were shot and killed Sunday at a bar, the Hickory Police Department said in a news release.

Around 2 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to multiple gunshots coming from the area of ​​the Gateway Pub & Grill. The bar is on Highway 70 southwest in Hickory.

At the scene, police found an armed suspect and attempted to arrest him. As they attempted to arrest him, a second armed suspect began shooting at the officers, police said.

An officer was shot twice. An assisting officer returned fire, hitting one of the armed suspects, police said. They did not say which of the suspects was shot.

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The fallen officer was transported to a local hospital. They are expected to recover from their injuries, Hickory police said.

The suspect who was shot was airlifted to a Charlotte hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

Channel 9's Dave Faherty was on scene Sunday morning and could see police investigating the parking lot. Dozens of evidence markers had been laid out.

Patrons told Faherty that dozens of people were at the bar at closing time when someone started shooting a gun in the parking lot.

“It was around closing time, everyone was running around the building,” said one customer, “it was like chaos, you know, it was scary. what happened after that ?They were telling us to go down and take shelter.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting and the officer who shot the suspect has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome.

Hickory police are investigating the first shooting at the bar.

Crime reporter Glenn Counts was able to reach the suspect's mother, who told us over the phone that she thought police had the wrong man.

“It's not true, it's nothing from my son, I don't know who would have retaliated but I can tell you that's not the case for my son, the crowd was very adamant, the crowd was shouting at the police that they had shot the wrong person,” she said. said.

The suspect's mother did not want to say his name.

Charges contacted the Hickory Police Chief, who disagreed with the mother's claims and said the suspect was armed with a .45 caliber handgun.

The chief also said the investigation is still ongoing into the cause of the incident that led to so many shots fired.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 828-261-2600.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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