UPDATE: GUNMAN HAS DIED
Scene where suspect shot police officer.
/ Brianna Smith
LUMBERTON, NC (WPDE) - A man suspected of shooting an officer, barricaded himself in a trash can for hours then shot himself, according to Lumberton Police Chief Mike McNeil.
McNeil said two officers were patrolling an area near East Third Street in Lumberton when they saw a suspect Breaking and Entering into a car dealership early Sunday morning.
The officers split up to surround the suspect, said McNeil.
Police say when one of the officers attempted to jump a fence and subdue the suspect from behind, Victor Ronald Spearman shot through the fence and the bullet hit officer Marcus Norton in the left leg.
"We know he shot through the fence, and we know the officer was hit," said McNeil.
Spearman ran from police, jumped in a nearby trash can with his gun and refused to come out, said McNeil.
After several hours of negotiations, Spearman shot himself, said McNeil.
"We did not return fire to him," he added.
According to McNeil, Spearman was alive when he was taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center but later died from the self-inflicted gun shot wound.
Officer Norton was released from the hospital Monday morning.
This is the second Lumberton police officer shot in a month.
Officer Jeremiah Goodson was off-duty at the Express Depo/Dairy Queen on Fayetteville Road when he spotted a man who was wanted by Lumberton police.
Goodson and another officer approached Brown's car and that's when Brown started firing from inside the vehicle, according to Capt. Johnny Barnes.
Goodson was hit more than once and died a couple of hours later at the hospital.
The other officer was able to arrest Brown.
