Albemarle police cruisers riddled with bullets during deadly standoff

ALBEMARLE, N.C. — Police said a man killed himself after firing dozens of shots at officers and barricading himself inside a home overnight in Albemarle.

Authorities told Channel 9 that the tense standoff began with a police chase late Tuesday night before the man barricaded himself inside his home for about five hours on Snotherly Street.

Albemarle police Chief Danny Bowen told Channel 9 that 23-year-old Robert Baucom started shooting at officers when he jumped out of his truck and ran to his house.

Police said Baucom drove by in his truck, officers followed and conducted a traffic stop several blocks down the street. Baucom was stopped and then decided to lead officers on a chase.

Police said he got out of his truck with what officers described as a possible assault rifle, got into his home and shot at officers.

Neighbors said Baucom kept shooting at police and they took cover when they heard several shots coming from the home.

[ [PHOTOS: Police cruisers peppered by bullets during deadly standoff in Albemarle] ]

Channel 9 watched as a police cruiser was towed from the scene, its windows apparently shattered by the gunfire. Bowen said five patrol cruisers were peppered with bullets. One of the vehicles was shot 21 times.

Bowen told Eyewitness News that Baucom fired more than 30 rounds at officers.

No officers or bystanders were injured.

“I have seen their vehicles, and I am extremely happy that none of my officers were hurt,” Bowen said. “They’re very lucky.”

One officer was crouching for cover and said a bullet came close to his head.

"There was a very good chance that if they had gotten struck, they would've been killed,” Bowen said.

Police tried for hours to get Baucom to surrender, and the standoff ended around 1 a.m. when officers entered the home and found he had taken his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Bowen told Eyewitness News that they had been looking for Baucom after Cabarrus County authorities asked them to help track him down.

A neighbor said she rushed to safety while her cousin, one of the officers, returned fire.

"I had a family member in that line of fire,” the neighbor said. "You could see the door shattering, you could see cops shooting, you could see him shooting and a bunch of big trucks started coming trying to get him out."

Channel 9 learned this wasn't the first time Baucom popped up on police radar.

Two years ago, officers said he wrote threatening posts on Facebook about hurting police. In that case, he was charged with disorderly conduct.

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