Greensboro, North Carolina — A police officer responding to a complaint of a man with a gun inside a North Carolina supermarket was fatally shot Monday, and a suspect was later apprehended, authorities said.
inside a news conference, authorities reported the death of Greensboro police officer Michael Horan. Horan was responding to a report when he was shot shortly before lunchtime inside a Food Lion store in Greensboro, located in the state’s central region.
Ramona Miller told WGHP-TV that she was shopping with her 6-year-old granddaughter when she heard guns fired.
“We were on our way out, and I was buying a lottery ticket when I heard a ‘pop-pop’ followed by a ‘pop-pop-pop.'” “I think I heard five shots,” Miller stated. “At first I didn’t know it was a shooting … but an employee yelled out, ‘Shooting! Shooting!'”
Miller claimed she and her granddaughter fled the business, and police arrived shortly after.
There were no early reports of any other injuries in the business.
Authorities stated Monday afternoon that the circumstances of the incident are still being investigated, and they did not immediately provide any other information about how it occurred or name the person taken into custody. The North Carolina State Bureau of inquiry, the state’s primary law enforcement agency, is conducting the inquiry.
Horan joined the Greensboro Police Department in 2017 and was sworn in as an officer in early 2018, according to Assistant Police Chief Milford J. Harris. Horan worked in the department’s patrol bureau. His LinkedIn page also shows that he has been a member of the United States Coast Guard since 2000.
“He was an exceptional cop. “He had an excellent reputation both within the department and in the community,” Harris stated during the news conference.
On X later Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper expressed his condolences to Horan’s family and fellow officers, saying the fallen officer was “courageously doing his duty protecting Greensboro when he became the victim of a senseless act of violence.” He expressed gratitude for Horan’s “brave, dedicated service.”
Cooper had earlier announced on social media that he had dispatched a “significant” number of state law enforcement officers to assist with the emergency response in Greensboro, where a large police presence was visible outside the store shortly after the shooting.
The store will stay closed while authorities do their investigation, Food Lion said in a statement, adding that it is providing support to concerned employees. It sent all questions to local law enforcement and stated that it was working with the inquiry.
The shooting served as yet another reminder that state lawmakers should increase resources and improve law enforcement officer safety, according to Democratic state Sen. Michael Garrett, who represents a portion of Guilford County that includes Greensboro.
“At a time when there should be joy and celebration, another heroic officer was shot in the line of duty. Garrett wrote in a Facebook statement that another family’s holiday season will be permanently affected.
