Officer-Involved shooting in Carolina Beach leaves motel guests shaken

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Early Saturday morning shots rang out on the 300 block of N. Carolina Beach Avenue.

At 12:28AM, Carolina Beach police arrived at Dolphin Lane Motel where they were involved in a shooting with an unidentified suspect. The exact details of why they were there is unknown at this time, but guests staying at the motel say they heard a lot of commotion going on outside.

“Someone was beating and banging on the door real hard, and all of a sudden I heard five gunshots go off.” says Theresa Bullard, a guest staying across from the room the shooting took place in.

Bullard, who is visiting from out of town for the holiday weekend also says at first, she didn’t quite know who was involved “Just a group of people arguing and shooting at one another, until I looked out the window and didn’t really see anybody but a bunch of officers and a blue light.”

Others staying at the motel were woken up by the shots and heavy police presence outside their rooms. Per standard protocol, both officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave effective immediately. The suspect’s status at the hospital is unknown at this time as well.