HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A Haywood County deputy, shot by a gunman on top of a billboard last week, has been released from the hospital.
Chief Deputy Jeff Haynes tells News 13, Deputy Eric Batchelor was released and is doing much better. Batchelor will be continuing treatments.
RESIDENTS SEND THEIR WELL WISHES TO INJURED DEPUTY AFTER EARLY MORNING SHOOTOUT
On Tuesday, July 28, 2020, deputies from the Haywood County Sheriff’s Department and Canton Police Department were dispatched to Old Asheville Highway just after 2 a.m. in response to a disturbance. The North Carolina Bureau of Investigation says a deputy and two Canton officers encountered an armed man standing on a billboard. The sheriff's office says a man with a rifle fired at officers, striking Batchelor.
Officers returned fire and 32-year-old Jacob Wilbur Wright, of Canton, was struck and killed.
Deputy Batchelor was rushed to Mission Hospital in Asheville where he underwent surgery.
DEPUTY IN STABLE CONDITION AFTER SHOOTING IN HAYWOOD COUNTY; SUSPECT NAME RELEASED
So far, there has been no word as to the alleged motivation of Jacob Wright. Wright had just been released from prison in March. His priors include felony possession of schedule two drugs, breaking and entering, identity fraud and a misdemeanor DWI.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation continues to investigate the incident.
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