ROCKINGHAM — Four Richmond County sheriff’s deputies are on administrative leave following an officer involved shooting.
According to a spokesman for the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, the names of the deputies are being withheld pending interviews throughout the weekend and are expected to be released next week.
The deputies were reportedly involved in a shooting that sent a suspect, 60-year-old John Anthony McKoy, of Charlotte, to the hospital.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, McKoy’s license plate was caught by a Flock Safety camera on Thursday, July 31, and deputies received an alert and tried to stop his vehicle.
McKoy was wanted by the Laurinburg Police Department on charges of larceny and fleeing to elude arrest, according to the SBI. The Richmond Observer has reached out to LPD for more information.
Investigators with the sheriff’s office say McKoy refused to stop and a chase ensued, ending on U.S. 220 Business, north of Ellerbe. McKoy allegedly pulled out a gun, “prompting the deputies to discharge their weapons.”
McKoy was taken from the scene by FirstHealth EMS. He was later transferred from FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill where is being treated for his injuries, according to the SBI.
Online court records show McKoy has several pending charges in Richmond County stemming from incidents over the past few months.
The Hamlet Police Department obtained a warrant for McKoy’s arrest May 20, charging him with breaking and entering a motor vehicle with theft and felony larceny. He is accused of breaking into a 2021 Toyota Tacoma on May 17 and stealing power tools, lights, a heat gun, batteries and chargers.
On June 7, McKoy was stopped by the N.C. State Highway Patrol and cited for speeding, driving while license revoked, and having an open container of alcohol in the passenger area.
McKoy was arrested June 10 on the Hamlet warrant. That day, he was also cited by the sheriff’s office for simple possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance (marijuana), and charged with assault on a government employee for allegedly hitting a deputy.
It does not appear McKoy has yet been charged in the alleged events of this week.
Records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction show McKoy has a history of theft.
He was first convicted of felony breaking and entering in 1990, followed by two counts of misdemeanor larceny — one in Richmond County, the other in Union — in 1996. His probation was revoked on the Richmond County conviction the following year and he was incarcerated for just over a month.
Records show McKoy was also convicted in 2018 of burglary in New York.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
