First Posted: 9/2/2014

RED SPRINGS — A Red Springs man is recovering after being shot in the face by a Robeson County sheriff’s deputy early Monday morning.

Robeson County Sheriff Kenneth Sealey said the man, whose name has not been released, fired first and that his injury does not appear to be life-threatening.

Sealey said the deputy was responding alone to a disturbance on the 3400 block of McQueen Road at about 2:19 a.m.

“There had already been an altercation with him and another guy when [the deputy] got out there. That’s why he was there,” Sealey said, declining to elaborate.

According to Sealey, witnesses said the man fired at the deputy when the deputy got out of his vehicle.

Sealey said the deputy instructed the man “several times” to lay down his weapon and that the man pointed his gun at the deputy. The deputy fired from several yards away, striking the man in the face.

“The guy was fixing to shoot at him again.” Sealey said.

Sealey declined to release the name of the deputy but told the Fayetteville Observer that he had been employed with the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office for about three years. The deputy has been placed on administrative leave.

Sealey said the deputy was not injured and, pending an investigation, the shooter will be charged when he is released from UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Sealey would not say what charges the man would face.

Sealey referred additional questions to the State Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the incident. An SBI spokeswoman did not immediately provide a comment when reached this morning by a reporter.