CMPD identifies man officers fatally shot Friday in northeast Charlotte shootout
Two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers were shot and injured while trying to serve warrants in northeast Charlotte Friday afternoon, Chief Johnny Jennings said at a press conference Friday evening.
Police shot and killed the suspect.
CMPD identified him Monday as Reggie Allen Knight, 28. A police news release said he had warrants in Mecklenburg County for drug and firearms charges, two counts of assault on a female, assault with a deadly weapon, and assault by strangulation.
He also had two pending arrest warrants in Iredell County for driving on a revoked licensed and driving impaired.
Officers arrived about 4:30 p.m. at a home near the 12000 block of Headquarters Farm Road when Allen began shooting, Jennings said.
Both officers were shot and taken to the hospital, but neither had life-threatening injuries, the chief said. He declined to say where they were hit. Police did not identify them.
“The suspect is currently deceased on the scene and at this point, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department will be leading this investigation due to the fact that our officers were shot,” Jennings said Friday.
CMPD also has the option of asking the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the shooting.
One neighbor told The Charlotte Observer she was at home sitting at her computer when she heard gunshots at the house behind her. She said the neighborhood rarely hears even an ambulance, making the sound of gunfire and a helicopter overhead alarming.
She stepped outside to see what was going on and saw scores of police officers and different kinds of police vehicles on her street. She said she doesn’t know the neighbors in the home behind her.
“I barely come out, so to do come out and then to see this is kind of like, ‘Oh wow, OK,’” she said. “Hopefully things get better over time and this will be the last incident, but of course we can’t always guarantee.”
Jennings said it appeared there were other people inside the house at the time of the shooting.
He also said it was an unfortunate outcome and something officers could face every day on the job.
“It’s unfortunate that some people want to respond by using deadly force,” Jennings said. “It’s the phone call you never want to get as a police chief, and it just sinks your heart there for a bit, until you realize the officers are okay.”
Observer photojournalist Khadejeh Nikouyeh contributed.
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 5:53 PM.
