ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A person was shot and killed by Asheville police early Wednesday after officers responded to reports of gunfire outside a downtown business, authorities said.
According to the Asheville Police Department, officers were dispatched around 1:57 a.m. to a business on North French Broad Avenue after receiving a report that someone was firing a gun in the parking lot.
When officers arrived, they heard gunfire and found a suspect who was actively firing a weapon in the parking lot, police said. Officers returned fire, striking the suspect.
The Asheville Fire Department responded and pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. No officers were injured.
The identity of the suspect has not been released.
Under department protocol, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation will conduct an independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
Wednesday’s shooting is the third officer-involved shooting involving Asheville police in 2026.
The first occurred April 21, when officers responding to a report of an armed man at a south Asheville shopping center fatally shot a suspect after police said he fired through a glass door at officers. The Buncombe County District Attorney later determined the officers’ use of deadly force was justified.
The second occurred June 7 at Westmont Commons Apartments, where police said an officer shot a man who allegedly charged officers with a knife. The man survived, and the State Bureau of Investigation also investigated that incident.
No additional information was immediately available.
