Scenes of grief played out in front of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department headquarters and in an east Charlotte neighborhood on Tuesday, a day after four officers were killed and four others wounded in a shootout with a man wanted on gun charges.
It was one of the worst shootings of law enforcement officers in U.S. history, and the worst in Charlotte.
Standing on the steps of CMPD headquarters Tuesday morning, Shirley Gomillion held a vase of bright red flowers and a card with a handwritten note to officers.
"My whole heart goes out to the officers that we lost. Please know that their families and the whole police department is in our prayers," she wrote.
Gomillion said she was moved to write the card after seeing reports about the officers' deaths earlier in the day.
"My heart just got sad, 'cause, you know, they have families too," she said.
She bent down and placed the card and vase beside the pile of flowers near the front door, and stepped back to survey the memorial.
She's far from the only one grieving for the four officers and their families.
At a news conference earlier in the day, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings wiped away tears while reflecting on the deaths and those left behind.
"This is certainly a tragedy that's going to impact, I would say our country for a very long time. It's a scar on Charlotte, but a scar that won't heal," Jennings said.
Officers were identified at Tuesday's news conference
The officers were part of a U.S. Marshals Task Force that was planning to arrest 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes at a home in Shannon Park. He was wanted for possession of a firearm by a felon.
When officers arrived, they say Hughes opened fire from the home's second story with a handgun and an AR-15 rifle, which Jennings said can penetrate police body armor with rapid fire.
"This individual was able to unload several rounds towards our officers within a matter of seconds," he said.
Other officers rushed to help and were shot trying to reach the wounded. After an hourslong standoff, police fatally shot Hughes. Two women who were inside the house were taken in for questioning.
At Tuesday's news conference, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the officers heroes. He said he spoke to some of the injured officers and their families at a hospital Monday night.
"Together, we prayed. Together, we gave words of comfort, but I know that emptiness left behind in these families will continue to run deep," Cooper said.
Officials listed the names of the four officers killed: U.S. Marshal Deputy Thomas Weeks, who went by "T.W."; CMPD Officer Joshua Eyer, who was just named officer of the month; and state correction officers Sam Poloche and Alden Elliot, who were members of the Marshals' Fugitive Task Force. Four other injured officers are recovering.
Clockwise from top left, U.S. Marshal Deputy Thomas "T.W." Weeks, CMPD Officer Joshua Eyer, N.C. Department of Adult Correction Officers Alden Elliot and Sam Poloche.
On Galway Drive, a woman who knew the shooter searched for answers
Outside the home on Galway Drive on Tuesday, a steady line of cars carrying neighbors, onlookers and news media crawled past the damage.
The side of the house near a second-story window was riddled with bullet holes. The front door, windows and parts of walls appeared torn off.
Saing Chhoaun, who lives next door, said he was home with his 29-year-old son when the shooting began.
"It looked like chaos," he said.
He sheltered in his downstairs living room as gunfire echoed during the hourslong standoff. He said he hoped police would implement more safety measures for officers moving forward.
"They need to learn from this, for the safety for all law enforcement," he said.
Standing on the curb in front of the house, away from the pack of news reporters, was a woman who didn't want to give her name out of concern for her safety. She said she was close to the shooter, whom she had known for 12 years.
"I knew he was battling stuff, and I could tell. I had been trying to get him to open up, but he wasn't the kind of person to open up and tell his business," she said.
She said she came to the home to try to make some sense of the news, but so far, she wasn't finding many answers.
"I don't even know, because I've just been lost all day since 7 o'clock when I found out. I can't call him. I keep calling his phone. Of course, I'm not getting an answer. I don't know," she said.
She pulled out her cellphone and showed the text messages the two had exchanged over the past few weeks. She said he had been going to therapy, and told her he didn't want to go back to prison and leave behind his three kids.
She brushed some hair from her face and looked toward the damaged home.
"I'm left with a lot of questions, even though he warned me. He told me Thursday, 'You watch the news. If something happens to me, you'll know.'" she said.
The woman said she was grieving for all the families hurt and wrecked in Monday's shooting.
"It's bad all around," she said. "It's bad all around."
