AVERY COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – A detention officer with the Avery County Sheriff’s Office has been placed on administrative leave after he shot and killed another man during a fight over the weekend, Sheriff Mike P. Henley confirmed with Queen City News.
The deadly shooting occurred around 7:50 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 along Teaster Valley Lane. Deputies were called to the area for ‘a physical altercation between two men.’
As deputies arrived at the scene, they came upon two men identified as Brenden James Smith and Michael Andrew Houser. They said Houser had been shot and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Smith, who is a detention officer with Avery County and was off-duty at the time of the shooting, remained at the scene. The NC State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is conducting an investigation.
Smith has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
