YANCEY COUNTY, N.C. (WSPA) – A nine-year veteran of North Carolina’s State Highway Patrol is recovering after law enforcement officials said what started as a chase, ended in him being shot. It all happened Tuesday evening off of U.S. 19 in Yancey County.
“Pow, pow, pow, pow, there was just a bunch of bullets going off,” said Anthony Robinson, owner of Pine Hill Auto Parts.
What started as a typical Tuesday at Pine Hill Auto Parts, off of Newdale Church Road in Burnsville, turned into anything but.
“It was like being on a shooting range,” Robinson explained.
Robinson said he was pumping propane outside when suddenly there was a disruption down the hill from his store.
“As they come down here about where our business is, I hear screeching tires and whatnot and then, they all go back to Mitchell County again,” said Robinson.
A spokesperson with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said it started in Mitchell County when they were trying to stop a 40-year-old driver. However, they told us, a trooper named Kevin Glenn was putting out a tire deflation device in Yancey County to catch him and ended up being shot.
“Smell the gun powder, it was a lot of shooting,” Robinson told 7 News.
As those shots rang outside, Robinson’s daughter was inside the store worried about what she was hearing and her dad.
“Instinctually, I was going to run outside to make sure everyone out here was okay but he starts running towards the gunshots,” said Melissa Robinson.
The investigation into what all happened continues.
At last check, Trooper Glenn is conscious and alert. A spokesperson with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol told 7 News, they’re hoping he can go home from the hospital Thursday.
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NC SBI) said the suspect, identified as 40-year-old Bobby Lee Byrd, Jr., died at an area hospital after he was shot by Yancey County deputies.
The NC SBI is leading the investigation into the chase and shooting.
