News 14 Carolina's Lisa Reyes has more details on the standoff and the suspects involved.
CHARLOTTE -- Shots were fired at police officers as SWAT team members tried to serve a warrant Wednesday morning on a suspected member of the MS-13 gang at a home in northwest Charlotte.
"I heard a boom, it made me turn over and I heard a helicopter hovering," neighbor Makeba Daniels said, describing the scene on Langston Mill road.
SWAT team members were assisting police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Motor Vehicles as they attempted to serve a warrant on a man who police say was in this country illegally from El Salvador and forged DMV documents, which is a felony.
Once police got inside, getting their man was no easy task.
Authorities were called to a home on Langston Mill Road, off Beatties Ford Road, in the early morning hours to serve a warrant to a suspected illegal immigrant with ties to the MS-13 gang.
"They had shots fired at them and once they were able to see the suspect they were able to return fire," said CMPD spokesperson Julie Hill.
That person was shot and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No officers were hurt but once they were inside the home they found several weapons. Police also went into the house next door, where more weapons were found and more suspected gang members -- 12 in all -- were taken into custody.
According to the FBI, MS-13 is one the most violent gangs in the country. They've seen an influx in membership, particularly in the southeastern part of the United States. That news doesn’t sit well with some nearby residents.
"Kind of makes you wonder, let's you know they are moving in everywhere from the inner cities to the suburbs,” neighbor Robert Foster said.