News

Deputies who shot at shooter 'feared for their safety,' sheriff says

By Bill Moss, Published: April 25, 2024

Deputies who shot at a 29-year-old man on April 13 were put in a situation where they feared for their safety and thus justified in shooting, Sheriff Lowell Griffin said Wednesday.

Griffin's account of the vehicle stop and shots fired came in a short video in which he noted that the SBI is continuing its investigation into the officer-involved shooting and will release a report on its findings.

Three deputies responded at 6:07 p.m. Saturday, April 13, to a report of a possible assault by an armed man in Pisgah National Forest at the end of North Mills River Road.

"During the investigation, deputies encountered a vehicle leaving the forest that they believed to be occupied by the alleged suspect in the assault," Griffin said. "The vehicle wrecked on North Mills River Road immediately after the deputies attempted to stop it. Immediately after they exited their marked patrol vehicles, the suspect, identified as Hayden Elias Brook, began discharging a weapon. The circumstances to include the discharging of a weapon would lead any reasonable officer to fear for their safety. The deputies subsequently discharged their weapons. The deputies did render first aid to Brook" before EMS and Mills River Fire & Rescue personnel arrived.

EARLIER COVERAGE:

The 29-year-old man who was shot at by Henderson County sheriff’s deputies after he fired at them had been wanted since January 2021 by the authorities in Maryland on multiple felonies after a jail escape, a Calvert County, Maryland, sheriff’s sergeant said on Monday night.
In an alert it issued in January 2021, the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office said it was seeking the whereabouts of Hayden Elias Brook. Brook, then 26, was wanted on charges of second-degree escape, violation of probation, reckless endangerment and attempted kidnapping. He had not been apprehended since.
Brook was pronounced dead at the scene on North Mills River Road on April 13 after the shootout with deputies who responded to a 911 call about an armed man threatening campers at North Mills River Campground. When deputies arrived, Brooks fled in a van. After he crashed the vehicle, he opened fire on the officers, who returned fire, the Henderson County sheriff’s office said.
“That was the individual we were looking for,” Sgt. Philip A. Foote Jr. told the Lightning Monday night after the newspaper made an inquiry last week about whether the escaped felon was the same person as the Mills River gunman.
Foote said Maryland authorities had received word at some point that Brook may have found his way to the Appalachian Trail but said that they had been unable to track him down.
Coverage of Brook’s criminal record in Maryland indicates he had been in trouble with the law since age 17 or 18.
The Southern Maryland News reported in September 2019 that a Calvert County grand jury handed down a 15-count indictment against Brook on charges of attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, using a dangerous weapon with intent to injure and unauthorized removal of a motor vehicle among others. He had a felony larceny conviction before that, in 2012, in Delaware, the Maryland news outlet said.
Acknowledging the public's "concern and desire for information" about the officer-involved shooting, the Henderson County Sheriff's Office announced last Wednesday that Sheriff Lowell Griffin would share more information on the incident later this week. The deputies involved were placed on paid leave, the sheriff’s office policy after an officer-involved shooting, while the SBI investigates the circumstances of the shooting.

"We understand the community's concern and desire for information and assure the public that all aspects of this incident are being meticulously reviewed," the sheriff's office said in a statement.