ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Police have released more details after a suspect died Tuesday evening following an officer-involved shooting in Asheville.
A news release from the Asheville Police Department (APD) identified the suspect involved in Tuesday’s incident as 58-year-old Chad Owen Herman.
Police said on Tuesday that several people called 911 around 5 p.m. on Aug. 27, claiming a man, now identified as Herman, pointed a rifle at them. At some point, Herman assaulted a city contract worker with a shovel, police say.
“Shortly thereafter, officers arrived and ordered the man to drop his weapon, but he refused,” a prior release said. “The man pointed his rifle at officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred.”
Herman then retreated to a home on Chatham Road, barricading himself inside where he was later found deceased.
Per the Asheville Police Department’s protocol, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) was contacted and will conduct the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, APD says.
When asked how many shots were fired on Tuesday, an APD spokesperson told 828newsNOW via email, “that information is part of the ongoing SBI investigation.”
“Per the Asheville Police Department’s Use of Force Policy, the officer was placed on investigative leave,” the spokesperson said of the officer involved in the incident.
The City of Asheville contract employee received treatment at Mission Hospital, has been released, and is now recovering at home, a release from APD said.
Police said the SBI is conducting an independent investigation of the officer-involved shooting. Once complete, the case will be referred to the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office consistent with established protocols.