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Winston-Salem Officer Shoots, Kills Man During Traffic Stop
Authorities say a North Carolina police officer has shot and killed a passenger after a traffic stop led to a physical struggle.
A Winston-Salem Police Department news release says Officer D.E. McGuire was patrolling late Friday when he stopped a car containing two men and a woman.
Police say 60-year-old passenger Edward Van McCrae was in the rear seat and began making suspicious movements.
McGuire told McCrae to stop reaching for concealed areas of the vehicle, but McCrae continued, according to the news release.
Authorities say the officer physically struggled with McCrae after he was removed from the vehicle, and the officer saw a handgun. McGuire shot and killed the man when he refused commands not to reach for the gun, according to the release.
Winston-Salem police and city officials are scheduled to hold a press conference this morning to discuss the shooting.
Industrial-Scale Pork On Trial In Federal Nuisance Lawsuits
A federal lawsuit starting this week in the country's No. 2 pork-producing state is the first of a string of cases deciding whether open-air animal waste pits are such a nuisance that neighbors can't enjoy their own property.
The North Carolina trial's outcome could shake the profits and change production methods of pork producers who have enjoyed legislative protection and promotion in one of the nation's food centers.
More than 500 neighbors have sued a division of Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, arguing that the storage cesspools that proliferated in the past generation cause intense smells and clouds of flies so foul that neighbors can't enjoy their own property.
Robert E. Lee Monument In Western North Carolina Damaged Again
A monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in western North Carolina has been vandalized for the second time in less than a year.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reports Lee's face has been scratched through, along with much of the text beneath it. His image is imprinted on a bronze plaque attached to a larger piece of granite in downtown Asheville.
The damage was first seen Friday.
Four people were arrested in August when the monument was damaged.
Small NC Town Seeks State, Federal Help With Shootings
Governor Roy Cooper says his administration will try to help a small town where at least six people have been shot and killed in recent weeks.
WTVD reports Cooper wrote a letter to the leaders of Henderson saying the state Department of Public Safety will look into options for helping the town of about 15,000 people.
Three people died in one shooting in March. In another shooting, a 14-year-old was found dead on a street.
Mayor Eddie Ellington says the police department has 13 open positions, representing more than 20 percent of full staffing.
North Carolina Interstate Closed For Hours Amid Fatal Wrecks
Two people were killed in a series of collisions that closed a North Carolina interstate for several hours.
The Statesville Record & Landmark reports that the people killed in the wrecks early Saturday were a tractor-trailer driver and a motorcyclist.
West Iredell Fire Department Chief Jerry Houston said the truck collided with another vehicle west of Statesville around 4 a.m., causing the truck to overturn in the median. The driver, whose name hasn't been released, was pronounced dead at the scene. Three others were taken to hospitals.
Because of debris, Interstate 40 was closed in both directions until 9 a.m.
Houston said a second fatal wreck happened about a mile away just before 8 a.m. when a motorcyclist was approaching traffic stopped by the first accident.
Houston said the motorcycle hit the back of another vehicle, and the motorcyclist died.