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Witness Describes Hearing 'Pow, Pow, Pow' As CMPD Officers Ambushed At Headquarters

police tape
TONY WEBSTER
/
FLICKR

One suspect is dead and one police officer injured after a shooting outside CMPD headquarters late Thursday night.

The shooting took place in a parking lot just before 11:00 p.m.

Todd Baldwin, a photographer for Spectrum News was there finishing up his shift. When he heard what sounded like gunshots. "There was like one or two and then after that there was like a pow, pow, pow." Baldwin estimates he heard "maybe six to 10 shots," before it was over.

CMPD Chief Kerr Putney later described the scene.

A group of officers had gathered together for a meeting and "as they were briefing out in the parking lot, a homicide suspect we were looking for pulled in," Got out of his white Ford Expedition and opened fire on police. "He ambushed us," Chief Putney stated plainly, "he shot at us."

One officer was hit in the leg. The police quickly returned fire.

Credit CMPD
Photo released by CMPD of 23 year old Jonathan Bennett

The gunman was reportedly 23 year old Jonathan Bennett.

He was a suspect in Charlotte's first homicide of 2018. Police believe Bennett killed 24 year old Brittany White earlier Thursday, taking their infant daughter after the murder. The baby has been found safe.

Chief Putney doesn’t know if the shooting was caught on camera.

The injured officer is being treated for non-life threatening injuries. Bennett was pronounced dead after being transported to a nearby hospital.

As is protocol for any officer involved shooting, the incident is being investigated.

Tom Bullock decided to trade the khaki clad masses and traffic of Washington DC for Charlotte in 2014. Before joining WFAE, Tom spent 15 years working for NPR. Over that time he served as everything from an intern to senior producer of NPR’s Election Unit. Tom also spent five years as the senior producer of NPR’s Foreign Desk where he produced and reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon among others. Tom is looking forward to finally convincing his young daughter, Charlotte, that her new hometown was not, in fact, named after her.