One dead after overnight deputy-involved shooting in Bladen County

BLADEN COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - One person is dead following an overnight deputy-involved shooting that happened Tuesday in Elizabethtown.

According to the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), law enforcement responded to shots being fired at the Elizabethtown Police Department at around 12:28 a.m. on May 12. When they arrived, officers found the building and two town-owned vehicles had been shot multiple times.

Officials said a second call reported the shots being fired from a white Honda sedan headed east toward downtown Elizabethtown. A deputy located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop on a dirt road near Highway 53 West in White Oak.

During the stop, the suspect, identified as 50-year-old Michael Horne Jr., was asked to get out of the vehicle and tried to leave before he allegedly began shooting, and the deputy returned fire, BCSO said.

Following the shooting, officials said Horne ran to a nearby house and barricaded himself in the backyard behind a building.

After being located, he was treated and taken to the hospital before dying from his injuries, BCSO said. No other injuries have been reported.

The shooting is under investigation, and the State Bureau of Investigations has been contacted.