A North Carolina man was shot and killed by deputies Saturday night after he murdered two other people critically wounded a third at another house.
All three of Justin Michael Strawser’s victims were restrained before they were shot, the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office said, which also said the shooting was not random and that “narcotics and robbery were possible motives.”
Strawser barricaded himself inside the second Mooresville home with four juveniles, who refused deputies’ attempts to rescue them.
Police said deputies tried to persuade Strawser to leave the house for several hours, but he refused, frequently firing at the officers. Bullets struck several police vehicles, but no officers were hit.
“The suspect also made statements to the negotiators about his involvement” in the fatal shooting at the other house, the sheriff’s office said.
Police eventually moved to other tactics, “including gas,” to get Strawser to leave. When tear gas was deployed, the juveniles inside fled with the suspect behind them, wearing a bullet proof vest and firing his rifle at deputies. Deputies returned fire, killing him.
The four juveniles were not physically hurt.
The three deputies who opened fire at Strawser were put on administrative leave while the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation conducts an investigation.
Police identified the two murder victims as Eduardo Cordova, 22, and Caleb Loper, 24. The third man, who was not identified, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
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[Featured image: Justin Michael Strawser/Iredell County Sheriff’s Office]
