One man is dead and an officer with the Wake County Sheriff's Department is recovering from a gunshot wound after a drug raid Friday morning in North Raleigh.
RALEIGH -- One man is dead and an officer with the Wake County Sheriff's Department is recovering from a gunshot wound after a drug raid Friday morning in North Raleigh.
Investigators say Steven Scott Thornton, 45, was shot and killed during the raid at 5401 Alpine Road, and Sgt. Ronnie Byrd was shot in the leg. Byrd was part of the Sheriff Department's "Special Response Team," which was called in to help the Wake County ABC Department serve the search warrant for drugs.
"We did make a forced entry into the house, shots were fired, one of our officers was hit," explained Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison. "He's in good condition."
Roxanna Dudley lives across the street from the house that officers searched. She said Thornton had been nice in the past to her.
"I just only met him and talked with him once," Dudley said. "He was real friendly, real nice. I didn't see him much though."
Investigators said Thornton died after being taken to WakeMed Hospital. They had some difficulty determining his identity at first. People who live on Alpine Road have questions of their own now following the raid.
"This is such a quiet neighborhood, and I'm really surprised that this is happening," said Brian Kutner, who lives a few houses away from Thornton's home. "It's insane."
Harrison said the State Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation into the shooting. He said Byrd, who joined the Sheriff's Department in 1997, is on leave for now.