Dramatic video has emerged of the moment a shootout broke out in North Carolina that slaughtered four law enforcement officers and wounded several others as they tried to serve a warrant on a felon.
An agent with the US Marshals and three police officers were gunned down in a hail of bullets after the wanted suspect, Terry Clark Hughes Jr, 39, opened fire on them outside the home in Charlotte on Monday afternoon, cops said.
Several neighbors managed to capture the terror as officers scrambled to seek cover and heavily-armed law enforcement started returning fire with snipers.
In one video, a man could be heard begging for someone to unlock the door to a home as he filmed two armed officers hiding behind a car in his yard as they fired off a barrage of bullets.
The officers could be heard repeatedly shouting for the man to get inside.
Meanwhile, another clip showed a truck driver filming multiple officers fleeing and calling for those nearby to seek cover as gunfire rang out in the background.
“Should we take cover?” the man filming could be heard asking before jumping out of his truck.
As he backed away to safety, officers could be seen rushing at least one injured colleague from the scene.
The bloodshed — the deadliest day for US law enforcement in a single incident since 2016 — erupted as Marshals approached the home to serve Clark Hughes Jr with a warrant for possessing a firearm.
The perp, who had a lengthy rap sheet, opened fire on the officers as they approached the home, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said.
He was quickly shot dead in the front yard.
A second person then started pumping bullets from inside the home and some of the officers who rushed to the scene to rescue the first wave of downed officers were wounded, Jennings added.
After a three-hour standoff, two females eventually came out and were taken to a police station to be interviewed by detectives.
Armored vehicles subsequently smashed into the home, ripping off windows and entire doorways that were left broken.
The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction identified two of the task force officers killed as Sam Poloche and Alden Elliot. Both had been with the department for 14 years.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Joshua Eyer, who only just was named officer of the month for April, died several hours later at the hospital.
Meanwhile, Thomas Meeks, a deputy US Marshal, was also killed in the attack.
One of the task force members, which is made up of federal agents and other officers from across the region, was injured, as well as three other Charlotte-Mecklenburg cops.
“Today we lost some heroes who were out simply trying to keep our community safe,” Jennings said at a news conference.
“To me, it’s the most tragic [day] that I’ve been involved in.”
President Biden was briefed in the wake of the shooting, saying in a statement late Monday, “They are heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, rushing into harm’s way to protect us.”
“We mourn for them and their loved ones. And we pray for the recoveries of the courageous officers who were wounded,” he added.
