Suspect in Shelby officer’s killing caught in Rhode Island apartment early Wednesday

A Cleveland County man accused of killing Shelby police Officer Tim Brackeen on Saturday was arrested in Coventry, R.I., early Wednesday.

Police used a bullhorn to order Irving Fenner Jr., 23, from an apartment where friends of his half-sister live, the Providence Journal reported. Fenner obeyed and was arrested without incident, according to the Journal.

Fenner was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to his lower left torso and then released into police custody, Rhode Island State Police said in a statement.

Police believe the bullet was from Brackeen’s gun, Rhode Island State Police Maj. Joseph Philbin told the Journal.

Fenner had shaved his head to alter his appearance, said Rhode Island State Police Col. Steven O’Donnell, according to the Journal.

“If you’re going to fight with the police, we’re going to fight back,” O’Donnell said. If that happens, “You know you're going to have to use deadly force. Thank God we didn’t. It’s a good day for law enforcement to get a cop killer off the street.”

Cleveland County District Attorney Mike Miller said his office will seek the death penalty against Fenner, Observer news partner WBTV reported.

Police used cellphone analysis to find Fenner, authorities said at a news conference in Rhode Island on Wednesday afternoon.

On Sunday, someone drove from Rhode Island to pick up Fenner in North Carolina, according to the Rhode Island State Police statement. He was driven to Rhode Island on Monday, to his half-sister’s home on Oxford Street in Providence, police said.

Police said they went to the home late Monday, but Fenner was not there. Fenner’s half-sister, Jolisa Peeler, 27, was taken into custody at her home. The apartment where Fenner was arrested is 17 miles south of Peeler’s home.

Peeler and friends Corry Peeler, 39, whom police said was a distant relative, and Hope Wyman, 39, were charged in Rhode Island with harboring a criminal, the Journal reported.

Authorities in North Carolina confirmed that Jolisa Peeler, Deitra Morris and Casey Fenner of New York were charged with accessory after the fact of first-degree murder, which is a Class C felony, WBTV reported.

Morris, 37, was in the Cleveland County Jail on $250,000 bail on Wednesday. Casey Fenner and Peeler will be returned to North Carolina to face their charges, but it is unclear when.

Authorities also charged Ashley Hamrick, 28, with felony harboring an escapee. She was in the Cleveland County Jail on a $100,000 bail on Wednesday.

Hamrick is accused of harboring Fenner, knowing he was wanted, when Brackeen attempted to serve warrants on him early Saturday, WBTV reported.

Brackeen was shot on Parkview Street in Shelby and died Monday morning at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

Brackeen had been with the Shelby Police Department since July 2004 and was assigned as a canine officer.

This story was originally published September 14, 2016 at 5:43 AM with the headline "Suspect in Shelby officer’s killing caught in Rhode Island apartment early Wednesday."