Police: 16-year-old shot at Hope Mills patrol car

Aaron M. Smith was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer. He was being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center under a $42,000 secured bond.

Police received a report at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday that a man with a handgun was in the 5800 block of Church Street. When officers arrived at the scene, someone fired shots at the patrol car while the officers were still inside, and one round struck the vehicle, police said.

The officers then returned fire, and the gunman ran into some nearby woods, police said. Hope Mills Middle School was put on lockdown while police from Hope Mills and Fayetteville, Cumberland County deputies and Highway Patrol troopers searched for and apprehended the gunman, police said.