CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two days after an attempted arrest in east Charlotte turned into a deadly shootout, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings spoke one-on-one with WCNC Charlotte's Vanessa Ruffes.
"It's difficult," Jennings said. "I'm not gonna sit and say 'Oh, everything's fine.' But I've seen a lot of our officers that have stepped up to the plate and said we're going to help you cover this division, we're going to help, we're going to put in the extra time, we're going to go out and still protect and serve our community. That's the kind of thing that defines who we are."
Jennings thinks that support runs deep in the law enforcement community.
"I always say that when we talk about being a family, that's a true example of us being a family these past few days," he said.
The standoff claimed the lives of three law enforcement officers serving on a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and one Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer. The officers were met with "active gunfire" from a suspect barricaded inside an east Charlotte home. Five other officers were wounded. The suspect was killed during the hours-long standoff.
Jennings remembered Eyer fondly.
"The way he treated the community members. The people that he came in contact with. The way he treated his peers and his response to the community," Jennings recalled. "His recognition was because of keeping our community safe [such as] by taking illegal firearms off the streets. Things that he didn't have to be involved in, he was getting involved in."
Eyer worked with CMPD's North Tryon Division for six years. He graduated from CMPD's 178th Recruit Class in April 2018 and won a CMPD Officer of the Month Award in mid-April for his work with the department.
"Just like we saw Monday with him," Jennings said. "He could have taken a perimeter position. He could have done anything that did not put him in the line of fire. But he was one of the ones that went straight in and did not hesitate. And for that he's truly a hero."
Jennings was not able to speak with him after the ambush Monday afternoon, but said if he would have been able to, that he would have thanked him.
"I would have thanked him, I would have thanked him for doing his job," Jennings said. "I would have thanked him for going above and beyond and I would have told him how much I appreciate him."
Terry Clark Hughes Jr. was identified as the man responsible for the officers' deaths Monday. A WCNC Charlotte review of Hughes' criminal background shows he routinely skipped court and repeatedly tried to evade arrest.
At the time of the shootings on Monday, the U.S. Marshals task force was trying to serve warrants out of Lincoln, Mecklenburg and Person counties, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Bill Beam, who has an officer on the task force, too.
"[Hughes] doesn't deserve a space in my concerns," Jennings said of the suspect. " Of course, any loss of life is tragic and I feel for that. But at the same time, he decided he was going to take the life of as many officers as he could before he went down himself."
Jennings said the safety of his people is what keeps him up at night.
"I know that they are put in some very difficult situations. They have to be all things to all people a lot of times and you know, they're scrutinized to no end," Jennings said. "I want to make sure that they're okay and when I go to bed at night and when I wake up in the middle of the night and I think that my first thoughts is that we remain safe and that we keep our community safe."
Vanessa Ruffes: Contact Vanessa Ruffes at vruffes@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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