SHERIFF: Deputies had no time to react in stabbing, fatal shooting

EDGECOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - An Eastern Carolina sheriff said his deputies had no time to react in Thursday afternoon’s stabbing of one deputy and the fatal shooting of the suspect.

Edgecombe County Sheriff Clee Atkinson said his corporal who was stabbed twice in the back has been released from Vidant Medical Center and is now recovering at home.

Atkinson said they were called to the home on McNair Road outside of Tarboro just after 2:00 p.m. for a woman being chased by a family member with a knife.

He said the first two deputies spoke to the woman in the front yard and the three then went on the front porch.

The sheriff said seconds later, a third deputy arrived. “He’s getting out of the truck and witnesses all of this,” said Atkinson.

The sheriff said the man with the knife had a history of mental illness and they have had three recent calls involving him at this home.

The sheriff said deputies then fired at the man and he was dead before EMS arrived.

All three deputies were wearing body cameras that captured what happened, and the sheriff said that video has been turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation.

Atkinson said his three deputies have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in these cases.

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