On the evening of December 7, 2019, 27-year-old Fayetteville police officer Stephen Paul Carr was sitting alone in the driver’s seat of his patrol vehicle, parked behind the Fayetteville Police Department, while waiting for his partner to return. At about 9:40 p.m. a man later identified as 35-year-old London Phillips approached the driver’s side and opened fire, shooting Officer Carr in the head. Carr suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers inside the station heard the gunfire and immediately responded. They located Phillips nearby, pursued him into an adjacent alleyway and engaged him. An exchange of gunfire occurred and responding officers fatally shot Phillips. Emergency medical personnel were dispatched but both Carr and Phillips succumbed to their injuries at the scene.

The Fayetteville Police Chief described the killing as a cowardly act and said it appeared the suspect had come to the parking lot with the intention of killing an officer. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI were assigned to handle the investigation. Did anyone in the Fayetteville area witness anything in the parking area that evening or have information about the events leading up to the shooting?