12-09-2011, 03:46 PM
RIP Deputy Richard Rhyne
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AP
Moore County, NC-- A Moore County deputy with more than 37 years in law enforcement was shot and killed Wednesday as he tried to arrest an Iraqi war veteran with an outstanding arrest warrant for not paying child support, Sheriff Lane Carter said.
Deputy Richard Rhyne, 58, spoke to the suspect before he was killed and was trying to arrest him when the shooting took place around noon outside an abandoned home near Vass.
"Our hearts are awful heavy. It's like losing a family member," Carter said.
Rhyne went to the home after deputies received a trespassing complaint. The deputy found 33-year-old Martin Poynter and his brother and had time to check their names before he was killed. Poynter then turned the same gun on himself and also died, the sheriff said.
The brother witnessed both shootings. Carter said he was not involved in the killing of his deputy and was not arrested.
Poynter didn't have a criminal record, but he was taken into custody for a mental evaluation after being involved in a domestic dispute following his return from military service in Iraq a few years ago, Carter said.
Rhyne started in law enforcement in Pinehurst in 1974 and served as police chief at Foxfire Village for 26 years beginning in 1981. He came to the Moore County Sheriff's Office in 2007, working at the courthouse and as a school resource officer as well as helping with patrol, Cater said.
"He was a wonderful man and a great police officer," the sheriff said. "Whenever you saw Rick, he was always personable and he loved everybody."
Rhyne was the first Moore County deputy ever to be killed in the line of duty.
AP
Moore County, NC-- A Moore County deputy with more than 37 years in law enforcement was shot and killed Wednesday as he tried to arrest an Iraqi war veteran with an outstanding arrest warrant for not paying child support, Sheriff Lane Carter said.
Deputy Richard Rhyne, 58, spoke to the suspect before he was killed and was trying to arrest him when the shooting took place around noon outside an abandoned home near Vass.
"Our hearts are awful heavy. It's like losing a family member," Carter said.
Rhyne went to the home after deputies received a trespassing complaint. The deputy found 33-year-old Martin Poynter and his brother and had time to check their names before he was killed. Poynter then turned the same gun on himself and also died, the sheriff said.
The brother witnessed both shootings. Carter said he was not involved in the killing of his deputy and was not arrested.
Poynter didn't have a criminal record, but he was taken into custody for a mental evaluation after being involved in a domestic dispute following his return from military service in Iraq a few years ago, Carter said.
Rhyne started in law enforcement in Pinehurst in 1974 and served as police chief at Foxfire Village for 26 years beginning in 1981. He came to the Moore County Sheriff's Office in 2007, working at the courthouse and as a school resource officer as well as helping with patrol, Cater said.
"He was a wonderful man and a great police officer," the sheriff said. "Whenever you saw Rick, he was always personable and he loved everybody."
Rhyne was the first Moore County deputy ever to be killed in the line of duty.