Woman killed when Gastonia police return gunfire during domestic call

GASTONIA, N.C. — A woman is dead after an officer-involved shooting in Gastonia on Saturday.

According to the Gastonia Police Department, officers were called to a home on South King Street off South Weldon Street around 1:19 p.m. for a domestic-related call.

“The call came in and it was a violent domestic situation,” Gastonia Police Department Chief, Trent Conrad, said.

At the scene, police were met with a woman who had multiple guns. Witnesses told officials, they heard the officers say ‘drop the guns’ several times.

The department says the woman engaged officers and shot one of them in the legs many times.

The injured officer and another officer fired back killing the woman. A fellow officer drove the wounded officer to the hospital.

“Right now he’s in a lot of pain, but his family is with him, he’s being treated for his injuries,” Conrad said.

At the scene, Conrad held a press conference breaking down the incident.

“Two officers responded once the officers arrived on the scene they encountered a female who was armed with multiple firearms, communicating with the female she began to fire, officers returned fire, both officers returned fire, and one of our officers was shot multiple times, he’s in stable condition,” he said.

The State Bureau of Investigation is taking over the case as is protocol to see if the officer’s actions were justified, GPD will be conducting an internal investigation as well.

To have another officer-involved shooting this close to the fatal officer ambush in east Charlotte that claimed four lives has been unsettling. Governor Roy Cooper took to X, formerly Twitter, to reach out to the department:

“We are grateful for the courage of the Gastonia law enforcement officer who was shot today in the line of duty and we pray for his recovery. I have talked with Police Chief Conard to offer any state resources necessary .”

Police have not released the identities of anyone involved in the shooting.

Channel 9 did ask the Gastonia Police Department if anything was said between the woman and the officer before the shots were fired. Their chief said his officers only had time to tell her to put the guns down.

The officer was released from a hospital on Thursday and will receive more care at another facility, the Gastonia Police Department said.

This is a developing story; check back at wsoctv.com for updates.

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