Northampton Sheriff’s Office Upgrades Weapons After Shootout
Since August, the Northampton County Sheriff's Office has upgraded guns, vests, helmets and shields in the wake of a terrifying encounter with a gunman.
Posted — Updated“They were instantly out-gunned at that point and found themselves pinned down,” Northampton County Sheriff Wardie Vincent said.
While responding to a domestic disturbance in January, two deputies came under fire from Robert Edwards and his semi-automatic rifle when they responded to a call about a domestic dispute.
Both deputies were armed only with pistols. One deputy was pinned behind his car, while the other deputy managed to return fire when Edwards came out onto a porch, killing him.
“That was my first thought. We need to acquire some weapons to at least be able to return equal fire with that kind of fire,” Vincent said.
Commissioners recently approved Vincent's request. The sheriff's department has since spent $35,000 on new weaponry.
Vincent said several deputies still need specialized weapon training and that will happen over the next couple of weeks.
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