North Carolina Firefighters Shot, Burned in Separate Fire Calls

A North Carolina firefighter who was shot while answering a fire alarm call is recovering, while a suspect is in jail.

The Associated Press and local media reported that the fireman was shot last week in Ellerbe. One fire truck and a firefighter in a personal vehicle responded to the scene, where they were met with gunfire and a firefighter was hit. Deputies responded and took a suspect into custody.

The injured firefighter was airlifted to a trauma center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The suspect was identified as Timothy Lee Hayden, who used an assault rifle in the shooting, according to the Richmond County Sheriff and WCNC TV news. He is charged with two counts of assault on emergency personnel with a firearm and one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury. He remained in jail as of Wednesday.

The State Bureau of Investigation was called in to help. Last week, investigators were still collecting evidence at the scene and had no comment on a possible motive.

The shooting came two weeks after three firefighters in Wilimington were injured while responding to a gas explosion. A vehicle struck a gas line and left the scene, causing an explosion at a veterinary medical center, ABC15 News reported.

Two of the firefighters had relatively minor injuries while a third had severe burns on hands and arms.