The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) has a lot to answer to after body camera footage finally released from a 2019 showed the questionable circumstances that led to one officer being shot. The events have since led to a civil lawsuit, an FBI veteran seriously injured and tons of bad press.
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CMPD officers were called to assist with perimeter support to an FBI investigation on Nov. 1, 2019, WBTV reported. The FBI was serving a warrant at a home in Charlotte. Originally, the cops were after a suspect named Larry McConneyhead, according to WSOC-TV. He was accused of trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine out of the home, prompting the FBI warrant.
Multiple units, including Heather Loveridge, entered McConneyhead’s garage during the search, and the whole thing was captured on body camera footage. According to the video, an officer can be seen walking off-camera towards the door leading into the house. When the officer returned to the garage, three other officers, including Loveridge, also entered the garage, the video shows.
Soon, the officers in frame regrouped near the front door, planning to use a battering ram to break down the door to the suspect’s home. “There, they encountered a woman pointing a gun directly at them,” a lawsuit against the city and Loveridge read. That’s the moment shots started ringing off.
Ex-officer Loveridge was spotted in the footage firing her weapon at the group of officers. Bullet casings can also be seen flying across the room as the shots continued.
The officers ran out of the garage to their safety, but one officer fell to the floor clearly injured. “I take a round into my wrist. I visibly saw it go in leaving a gaping hole,” FBI agent Clarence Belton said of the incident. “When I was slipping and falling before, I kept feeling things hit me… I kind of– I’m not going to say gave up, but it was like ‘oh, my God.’” He was eventually able to crawl to safety.
Belton, a former FBI task force officer and 10-year veteran, sued the City of Charlotte and Loveridge two years after the original shooting occured, WSOC reported in 2022. The body camera of the incident wasn’t shared with the public until outlet WBTV won a court case to unseal the evidence.
In response, ex-officer Loveridge said she “saw a Black male,” matching the vague description provided by TFO Brogdon for the suspect McConneyhead. But, the person she actually saw was officer Belton.
Belton also sued Loveridge for assault and battery. He’s asking for Belton compensatory damages and a jury trial.
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