Neighbors describe scary situation surrounding Gaston County police shooting; suspect holding someone at gunpoint

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV) - People in a Gaston County neighborhood are reacting to the scary scene that unfolded Sunday night along Stoney Oaks Drive.

Police said a suspect held a person at gunpoint and shot at several county police officers before he was shot and arrested.

Neighbors that WBTV spoke to are shaken up by the incident happening yards away from their homes in that part of Gaston County.

“It was kind of scary,” said Joann Smith.

“It was a shock for it to be going on in this neighborhood,” Bunky Henderson added.

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The hours-long situation in the southwest portion of Gaston County had people on edge Sunday.

Smith said she was “just hanging out on the porch and all of a sudden, we started seeing all of these cops cars flying up and down the road, heard gunshots and everything on each end.”

Tammie Phillips described the scene, “Police cars, police cars, police cars……it was crazy.”

Officers were called out to the area several times for an abandoned car on private property, reports of gunshots and a suspicious person in the area.

They were later called back out for a person being held at gunpoint in their garage.

Henderson said, “well, I heard two different rounds of guns. The first I heard, and we didn’t know, my son said maybe that was just fireworks, but the second time I heard them, I knew they were real shots because the cops had went down through there.”

Police said the suspect ran through the woods and was tracked down by a K-9 unit.

Once found, the suspect, 33-year-old Matthew Curtis Buford shot at the K-9 and three officers.

“We’ve never been around something like that, that close to home, we’ve heard about it on tv before but not close to us, so yes, it was wild and scary,” said Smith.

Police shot back at Buford, hitting him. The suspect was taken to the hospital and released into police custody. Neighbors are just thankful no one was seriously injured or died

“Either way, you know suspect or the cops, I’m glad nothing fatal took place,” said Henderson.

Buford faces a list of charges, including four counts of attempted first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, second-degree kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a felon, and other charges.

“Be very weary, it doesn’t matter how quiet your neighborhood is, anything can happen, anything,” said Phillips.

The State Bureau of Investigation is handling the case since it involved officers firing shots.

Police tell us body camera footage will not be considered for release until the SBI and DA’s office finish their investigation.

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