Two North Carolina sheriff's deputies who were seriously wounded when they attempted to arrest a wanted man this week are expected to make a full recovery, authorities said Wednesday.
Robeson County sheriff's deputies Jonathan Walters and Kaelin Locklear were injured by gunfire and a police vehicle on Tuesday as officers tried to serve a warrant on Shawn Tobin Locklear Jr., who is not related to the deputy.
The sheriff's office said Shawn Locklear allegedly fired at the deputies and was shot several times before being taken into custody. He was in critical but stable condition at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, a sheriff’s office news release said.
The sheriff said the suspect fled the area by getting into one of the wounded deputies’ cruisers and backing up, running over Walters' leg. He was later arrested by other deputies.
Wilkins said deputies had originally sought Shawn Locklear on suspicion of violating the conditions of his pretrial release because the monitoring bracelet around his ankle had been removed.
Wilkins on Tuesday said that he was "100% disgusted by certain parts of the judicial system" for how Shawn Locklear had been allowed out of jail while being accused of murder.
The Robeson sheriff’s office didn’t immediately respond on Wednesday to a phone message or an email asking whether it had contact information on an attorney for the suspect.