MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. — A man accused of shooting a Mount Holly police officer in December 2020 is now facing new charges.
Investigators said Officer Tyler Herndon and two other officers were responding to a break-in call in Mount Holly, when Joshua Funk fired shots directly at them, killing Herndon.
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Now, there are eight new charges from indictments handed down by a grand jury last week after a recent review of the case. Funk was already charged with the murder of Herndon, but is now charged with three counts of felony assault and attempted murder of three other officers who were at the scene.
Funk is also accused of breaking into a Mount Holly arcade before Christmas in 2020. For that, he was charged with larceny and breaking and entering.
Channel 9′s Ken Lemon was in the courtroom Monday and said Herndon’s mother sat in the front row during the hearing. Police officers also lined the first two rows.
“Right now our thoughts are with the Herndon family, and we want to be as strong as support as we can be,” said Mount Holly Police Chief Don Roper. “We think about Officer Herndon every day.”
Roper said they were also in court for Herndon, “because he can’t be there.”
Herndon’s motto “be in pursuit of the ultimate good” is also now etched on a newly dedicated police memorial in Mount Holly.
“We are here to support the Herndon family”
— Ken (@kenlemonWSOC9) February 14, 2022
Several Mt. Holly police officers sitting in the front rows with Tyler Herndon’s mother during the hearing. The prosecutor read a bevy of new indictments against Joshua Funk related to a 2020 break-in and the fatal shooting afterwards. pic.twitter.com/z9T8NuPzsx
If Funk is convicted of only murdering Herndon, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
On Monday, Funk’s attorney did not protest the new charges but quickly added a not guilty plea.
The district said the trial, which now included the eight new charges, will likely happen in 2023.
(WATCH BELOW: Suspect in Mount Holly police officer’s slaying indicted by grand jury)
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