A North Carolina man suspected of killing a woman hours before died early Friday from a gunshot wound he sustained in a shootout with police outside a headquarters, authorities said.
Jonathan Bennett, 23, drove into the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police headquarters at around 11 p.m. on Thursday as officers were meeting outside the building, Fox 46 Charlotte reported. Bennett ambushed the officers with gunfire and injured at least one.
Police said officers returned fire, hitting Bennett. He was detained and taken to the Carolinas Medical Center-Main where he later died, according to Fox 46 Charlotte. The officer who was wounded in the ambush was also taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
“Times like this make you appreciate the people who voluntarily put their lives on the line to keep us safe. Unfortunately some people use that against us,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said.
Putney said authorities will reevaluate whether additional security will be needed at the headquarters.
Police said Bennett was wanted in the murder Brittany White, 23, who he had a child with. Police were called to a west Charlotte home earlier Thursday and found the woman dead, according to the News & Record.
Bennett took the 2-year-old daughter with him after fleeing the homicide. She was later found safe, the Charlotte Observer reported. A second infant was also found safe in the west Charlotte home, police said.
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