MURPHY, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A Cherokee County detention officer was shot and killed Monday when a federal inmate overpowered him during a medical transport at Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital, authorities said.
Officer Francisco Paul Flattes, 56, was escorting inmate Kelvin Simmons, 48, to an orthopedic appointment at the hospital when Simmons began struggling with Flattes and a second detention officer, George Feinauer, according to Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith.
During the altercation, Simmons managed to seize Flattes’ firearm and fatally shot him. Flattes was taken to the hospital’s emergency department, where he was pronounced dead. Feinauer sustained non-life-threatening injuries but was not shot.
Following the shooting, Simmons fled the hospital, carjacked a vehicle in the parking lot and led authorities on a high-speed chase through Cherokee and Clay counties. He was captured in neighboring Macon County by a multi-agency team that included local sheriff’s deputies, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Simmons, a federal inmate with a history of bank robbery and previous escape attempts, had been housed at the Cherokee County Detention Center. In October 2024, he escaped from the same facility by climbing a perimeter fence.
District Attorney Ashley Welch said Simmons will face charges including first-degree murder, with additional state and possible federal charges pending.
A GoFundMe campaign launched by Back The Blue NC Inc. is collecting donations to support Flattes’ family.
“I join my fellow North Carolinians to mourn the tragic loss of Cherokee County Detention Center Officer Francisco Flattes. Susan and I send our deepest condolences to his family and the entire Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. We are grateful to law enforcement who quickly apprehended the inmate who committed this heinous murder during his escape from custody,” Sen. Thom Tillis said in a statement.