Dudley, NC — The man accused of shooting three Wayne County deputies Monday morning was found dead nine hours later. Deputies were shot while processing an involuntary commitment order, meaning someone thought the suspect was a danger to themselves and needed help. at a home in the 2500 block of Arrington Bridge Road in Dudley. Heavily armed officers from the State Highway Patrol, WCSO and surrounding agencies surrounded the home for more than nine hours. 23-year-old Jourdan Hamilton was found inside the home with an apparent fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound after SWAT members entered the residence. It is not known at this time who filed the restraining order. Joel Gillie, a spokesman for the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, said all 3 injured deputies are being treated at ECU Medical Center. Gillie said late Monday that Sergeant Matthew Fishman, 38, was in critical condition. Deputy Alexander Ramon Torres, 27, and Corporal Andrew Cox, 37, are said to be in stable condition. “Right now, our thoughts and prayers are with the individuals in our department and their families as they deal with their trauma,” Gillie said. Matthew Fishman is the son of Dave Fishman, pastor at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Goldsboro. The church opened its doors Monday night for those who wanted to pray for his speedy recovery. Chachi Torres said his son, Ramon Torres, was one of the deputies shot. He said he had a “bad feeling” when he received a notification on his phone on Monday morning. “Usually, I’d have my phone ready for any kind of news and I had a bad feeling… my phone went off. I look at it. Boom. Wayne County Sheriff’s Office [deputies] was shot. I call everyone and find out that one of them is my son.” Chachi Torres said it was some of the worst news he could receive as a parent. “I’m calling my wife, I’m telling my wife, my daughter. We just got in the vehicle and came straight to the hospital,” he said. Ramon Torres is in good spirits, his father said. “He’s a little sore right now, but he’s strong… He told us, he doesn’t want to see anybody, so I understand. He’s good,” Chachi Torres said. He discovered his son had been shot twice, with one bullet still in place Monday night. “One of them is on his hip. Still there,” he said. “The other one passed.” With his son stable, Ramon Torres asked for prayers for the rest of the families affected. “I’m just praying for the other two. [Just] just because my son is here doesn’t mean [I] just worry about Ramon. We are worried about the other families.” It’s typical for three deputies to serve an involuntary commitment warrant, Gillie said, and the deputies had no history with the suspect. According to the Gun Violence Archives, there have been six incidents in NC this year where a police officer has been shot and injured or killed. Nationally, the database shows there have been at least 201. From January 1, 2019 to today, North Carolina has had at least 73 incidents where a police officer has been shot and injured or killed. This places our state eighth in the nation for such incidents during that time period. In the same time period nationally, there were more than 1180 incidents. They have gone up over time. Up from 297 in 2019, 330 in 2020 and 360 incidents reported to the APA for 2021. At this point last year, there were 190 incidents reported, so we’re getting past that.
