Police: Help from the public 'vital' after teen killed, officer shot in Henderson

Officer Brandon Mitchell was investigating the shooting of 16-year-old Adonious Hawkins Jr. when, Mitchell's father said, shots were fired at him from a passing car.

Hawkins was found shot and lying in the middle of Charles Street around 9 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Mitchell was interviewing possible witnesses near North Pinkston Street at 12:04 a.m. Thursday when he was hit by a bullet.

"It traveled through his shoulder downward into his body," his father, Johnny Mitchell, said. "The bullet is lodged between his lung and his liver."

Officer Mitchell was recovering at Duke University Hospital. Johnny Mitchell said his son, 31 and the father of five, was expected to have surgery Thursday afternoon.

"Any time the phone rings and you hear a police officer has been shot, your heart drops," Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington said. “The other officers immediately came to his assistance and got him to safety, so we are thankful for that.”

By early Thursday afternoon, Hawkins had died, and police were searching for the people responsible for his death and Mitchell's injury.

"Assistance from the public is vital in solving this case," the Henderson Police Department wrote in a statement. "We feel that we have strong leads in this heinous act and hope to find justice for our victim and his family."

Anyone with information was asked to contact Henderson police through social media or to call Crime Stoppers at 252-492-1925, the Henderson Police Department at 252-438-4141 or the State Bureau of Investigation at 919-779-8188 or 1-800-334-3000.

Ronald Ragland lives a few houses down from the incident and said he was woken up by the police activity.

“I heard a bunch of gunshots,” Ragland said. “It seemed like it went up the street, next street over. When I looked out the door, police were everywhere. I saw them load a policeman on the back of a truck and pull off.”

One home on North Pinkston Street had at least five bullet holes, and the homeowner said the officer came into the home bleeding after being shot.

3 Henderson officers on leave after fatal shooting

A mile of the street was shut down for hours.

“I hate it for the residents because there are a lot of good people who live over there in the neighborhoods," Ellington said.

Police have not provided suspect information.

The Vance County Sheriff’s Office, Granville County Sheriff’s Office and North Carolina State Highway Patrol are assisting in the shooting investigation.