Man Killed, Deputy Wounded in Drug Raid

Raleigh, N.C. — A man wanted in Texas died Friday after being shot at a north Raleigh home as Wake County deputies and alcohol enforcement officers served a search warrant, authorities said.

Meanwhile, a deputy shot during the incident was treated at WakeMed and released.

The shooting occurred shortly before 10 a.m. at 5401 Alpine Drive, near the intersection of Falls of Neuse and Millbrook roads in north Raleigh, authorities said.

More than a dozen law enforcement officers were serving a search warrant at the Alpine Drive home as part of a two-month investigation by Wake County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board officers into an alleged indoor marijuana-growing operation, authorities said.

"We did make a forced entry into the house. Shots were fired," Sheriff Donnie Harrison said.

Stephen Scott Thornton, who authorities said was using the name Scott Monaco, was shot inside the home and died at WakeMed a few hours later.

Thornton, 45, was wanted in Texas on drug and firearms charges, authorities said. The U.S. Marshal's Service had a full extradition order in place to return him to the Dallas area upon arrest.

Sgt. Ronnie Byrd, a member of the Wake County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team, was shot in the leg. Byrd, 37, has been with the Sheriff's Office since 1997.

Neighbor Richard Walden said he heard four or five gunshots and screaming inside the house, which he said has been a rental property for several years.

"It was very loud. I didn't want to venture any closer to find out what was going on and with whom," Walden said.

Harrison declined to say how the shooting unfolded – who fired first and whether Thornton had been shot by a deputy.

"The SBI is handling that," he said, adding that Thornton's body had been sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy.

A full-scale search of the residence was put on hold until State Bureau of Investigation agents completed a review of the shooting. But authorities said they saw marijuana plants inside the home.