Emergency workers responded to the incident on Coachmen’s Trace, off Washam Potts Road.
Updated 10:26pm
A Cornelius police officer was shot Saturday morning while responding to a call about a domestic dispute on Coachmans Trace, off Washam Potts Road. A 16-year-old suspect also was injured, though not seriously, when another officer returned fire.
The incident happened around 11:30am at 19422 Coachmans Trace. Shortly after police arrived, someone fired gunshots, striking Lt. James Quattlebaum in the abdomen. A second officer returned fire, and was struck at least once, according to a police statement Saturday night.
Quattlebaum was taken by MEDIC to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound. On Saturday night, he was “doing well” and is expected to recover fully.
The suspect, Grayson Ferrell, 16, also was hit by a gunshot, but was wearing a bullet proof vest, and not seriously injured, police said.
On Saturday night, Cornelius police released a statement with more information:
On May 2, 2015 at 11:36 AM, Cornelius Police responded to a disturbance call at 19422 Coachman’s Trace. Shortly after arriving, officers came under fire from a suspect and Lt. James Quattlebaum was struck in the abdomen area. Another officer on the scene returned fire we believe hit the suspect at least once. The suspect, Grayson Ferrell (W/M DOB 8/13/98), was wearing a bullet proof vest and was not seriously injured. Ferrell is in custody and charges are pending.
Because the suspect was also shot by Cornelius officers, Cornelius Police [Department] has requested the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police take over the investigation into this incident. To allow CMPD to fully investigate this matter independently, we will not release further information at this time.
The Cornelius Police Department would like to thank Huntersville Police, Davidson Police, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police, MEDIC and Charlotte Fire Communications for their rapid assistance with this situation. We would also like to thank our community for the prayers and support that we have received for Lt. Quattlebaum and the Cornelius Police Department staff.
Lt. Quattlebaum is doing well and expected to recover fully. He wishes to express his appreciation for all the outpouring of support.
EARLIER VERSION
Here’s an earlier version of this story, posted at 1:06pm.
A Cornelius police officer was shot around midday Saturday afternoon while responding to a call about a domestic dispute on Coachmans Trace, off Washam Potts Road.
MEDIC took the officer to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he was being treated for an unspecified wound.
Police said they had a suspect in custody.
“We had an officer responding to a domestic call in the 19400 block of Coachmans Trace. The officer was shot, the suspect is in custody and the officer is at CMC Main,” police spokeswoman Betsy Shores said.
The officer’s name, the extent of his injuries and the information about the suspect was not being released at around 1pm.
The spokeswoman said the department planned to release more information later Saturday.
