Cops: Deputy dies after shootout in N.C. woods

updated 9:31 a.m. ET April 8, 2009

GRIFTON, N.C. - A sheriff's deputy has been killed and another shot in the neck during a shootout with a man in North Carolina, authorities said Wednesday.

The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office said deputies received a call Tuesday night reporting that a man opened fired while driving a car down a wooded path near Grifton, about 75 miles southeast of Raleigh.

Det. Allen Pearson was shot as he confronted the man and died at the hospital. Det. Ryan Dawson was wounded and is being treated at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

Officials said the suspect also was shot and taken to the hospital.

Deputies said the vehicle the suspect drove was registered to a woman in Craven County who has been found dead. Authorities did not immediately release the name of the man or the woman, or how she died.

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