(by Missy Stoddard, Staff Writer, Fayetteville Observer)
[ Ed. Note: The staff at Police1 -- who knew him well -- send our thoughts and sincere condolences to the friends, family and fellow officers of officer Turner.]
A Fayetteville police officer was in critical condition Thursday night after he was shot in the head while on patrol.
Officer Roy Gene Turner Jr. was on life-support at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, authorities said.
Turner, who is 32, was shot at the intersection of Moore and Hillsboro streets about 9 p.m. Authorities had one person detained for questioning at the Police Department, but he had not been charged, according to Lt. Katherine Bryant, a police spokesman.
Turner is a member of the neighborhood improvement team. The team was on assignment in the area of Jasper and Amy streets Thursday night. Turner stopped at the intersection of Moore and Hillsboro at 8:55 p.m. when something caught his attention, Bryant said.
“He was fired at ... and there is limited information on suspects at this time,” Bryant said.
Police officers and medical personnel administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the scene. Turner’s fiancee and his parents were at the hospital with police Chief Tom McCarthy. Turner has a 6-week-old child. Dozens of police cars converged on the area, cordoning off the scene with yellow tape. Officers in the K-9 unit searched the neighborhood on foot while others canvassed the area in cars.
Violent neighborhood A Moore Street resident who asked that his name not be used said he called 911 after hearing three shots. He looked out his door and saw a marked police car. One of the man’s roommates went to the officer. Larry Covington, who owns two homes on Moore Street that house recovering addicts, said the neighborhood is violent.
“You can sit out here on Friday night and just see the show,’' he said. “There’s drugs, fighting, shooting and prostitution.”
Bryant said Turner has been on the force five years. He worked in patrol, narcotics and vice before moving to the neighborhood improvement team. The State Bureau of Investigation, the state Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies were assisting with the investigation.
A Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy was shot in the leg with his own gun on Nov. 24. Deputy Lawrence Fermin was shot while struggling with a man who ran from a stolen car. David Lawrence Gibbs was charged with attempted murder and assault on a law officer.
The last Fayetteville police officer killed in the line of duty was in 1977.