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Charlotte, North Carolina law enforcement and the community are grieving after four officers were killed and four others were wounded during a shootout earlier this week.
Tunnel to Towers founder Frank Siller said on “Fox & Friends” that the organization will help the families of the fallen officers by paying off their families’ mortgages.
“All of them are married. All of them had children left behind,” Siller said on Thursday.
The four slain officers have been identified as Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. Weeks Jr.; North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC) Officers Sam Poloche and William “Alden” Elliott, who were members of a U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) fugitive task force; and CMPD Officer Joshua Eyer. Four other officers were wounded in the line of duty on Monday afternoon.
The home where four law enforcement officers were killed remains destroyed in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Four officers were killed in a shootout on Monday while trying to serve a search warrant. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
“Our mission is to make sure that we take care of these families. After someone pays the ultimate sacrifice, protecting us. And I told them that the Tunnel to Towers foundation will make sure that they live in a mortgage-free home,” said Siller, encouraging viewers to consider donating to help support families of fallen heroes.
Siller said we need to “stand up for law enforcement” and be there for their families.
“Without them, we don’t have a society. And we better get parents to wake up and teach their kids to be thankful and grateful and walk up to police officers and thank them and encourage them and to write them letters and to go to the police departments and have their kids go in there and understand that we don’t have a country without police,” Siller said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings joined “Fox & Friends” after the tragic incident, asking for prayers and support for his department and law enforcement as a whole.
“It’s certainly a scar to Charlotte. It’s also a scar for the profession across the country,” Jennings said.
“It’s going to take a while to get through this, but, we’re a resilient team here in Charlotte, and I’m sure that you know, we have great men and women that are going to do the right thing and continue to keep our community safe.”
VideoThe shooting began when a USMS task force attempted to serve a warrant for firearm possession by a convicted felon.
Authorities said the recipient of the warrant was the one who initially opened fire. That suspect, who was later identified as 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes, Jr., was killed in the shootout, police said.
Hughes, who had a lengthy criminal history, was also wanted for two counts of felony flee to elude out of Lincoln County, North Carolina, according to Charlotte police.
The deadly shootout occurred at a house on Galway Drive in East Charlotte on Monday. (Audrey Conklin/ Fox News Digital)
The front of the house where the shootout occurred is merely a shell now, with almost half of its facade blown out by gunfire.
Jennings on Tuesday said more than 100 rounds were fired between the suspect or suspects inside the house and responding officers. Investigators recovered an AR-15 and a .40-caliber handgun from the scene.
Jennings described the shootings as the “most horrific thing” he’s seen in his career involving his department.
“We put on this uniform and, we don’t know if we’re coming home and the dangers that are involved in putting this uniform on. A situation like this brings it all to reality. And not just for Charlotte, but for the entire country, of what we deal with and the dangers of this job.”
(L-R) Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. Weeks, Investigator William “Alden” Elliott, Police Officer Joshua Eyer and Investigator Samuel “Sam” Poloche were killed in a police shootout in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday, April 29, 2024. (U.S. Marshals Service via AP/NCDAC/Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department/Sean Rayford via AP/Getty Images)
Two additional persons of interest – both female, one only 17 years old – were taken into custody. Authorities have yet to determine whether there are any additional suspects who can be charged in connection with the mass shooting.
A total of eight law enforcement officers were shot.
President Biden visited Charlotte on Thursday to meet the fallen officers’ families and members of CMPD.
Terry Mikels, a former Durham-based USMS task force officer and a personal protection specialist with Executive Security Concepts, told Fox News Digital that the incident was “very unusual.”
“I can’t remember the last time in a 35-year career of law enforcement … [that] I’ve seen eight officers go down in one incident.”
Observing the scene of the shootout on Thursday, Mikels noted the suspect “had a higher ground,” shooting upon officers from the second floor, from both the front and back sides and putting the officers at a “great disadvantage.”
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
VideoElizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.
