ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Drones, a helicopter, K9s, and authorities from 10 different law enforcement agencies assisted in an hours-long manhunt Tuesday for two suspects: Sean Mulford and Bradley Ferris.
Deputies arrested Mulford Tuesday and Ferris Wednesday.
At around 3:40 p.m., authorities learned a man who looked like Ferris was seen knocking on residential doors in the 3100 block of Main Street. This is within a quarter mile of the Foxhaven subdivision where the suspects fled on foot.
Deputies arrived and found Ferris trying to get a ride from a passing motorist. Ferris was then taken to Sentara Albemarle for treatment for long outdoor exposure and is set to be taken back to the sheriff’s office for processing.
Pasquotank County resident Ty Adams lives nearby and said he heard the commotion.
“I was home. I heard what sounded like gunshots,” Adams said. “I ran out to the door and kind of peeped out, I didn’t actually see the truck. By then it had already passed but then I saw a cop car coming and then another and then another.”
According to a Pasquotank Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, deputies tried pulling over a black Ford truck for speeding on the Main Street Extension in Elizabeth City, but they took off into the Fox Haven subdivision.
They say Ferris drove and Mulford was the passenger.
Investigators say Mulford pointed a rifle out the window and shot three times at a deputy - who is not injured - before the truck hit a parked car, crashed into a ditch, and the two men ran into the woods.
“I don’t know why he turned - granted he was committing a crime - but I don’t know what possessed him to come through this neighborhood because there’s literally one way in, one way out,” Adams said. “I got a call from my wife she was traveling she was heading to work. He actually almost hit her… He almost hit her head on.”
Deputies searched the woods for hours with the help of drones and a helicopter.
People in that area got an emergency alert on their cell phones warning them of “ongoing law enforcement activity.”
Mulford is charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.
Ferris is facing felony charges of eluding arrest and having a stolen car.
Deputies say the Ford truck the suspects were in is stolen and they found spent shell casings and four cell phones inside the truck.