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April 21, 2008
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N.C. officer injured during training
By Graham Cawthon
The Shelby Star POLKVILLE, N.C. — Some mistook the chaos as just part of an exercise. Officers from several departments were in their second day of training on Polkville Road, using an abandoned building to go through hostage situation exercises. But yellow tape around the building Friday afternoon — while officers declined to comment — gave the indication that whatever had happened was far more real than some believed. "They said they had an accident," said a man at the scene who identified himself as the property owner. "They said they were taking care of it." The silence from officials was eventually broken with the announcement that, in the midst of the exercise coordinated by Cleveland Community College's Basic Law Enforcement Training program, an officer had been shot. "We had one of our officers accidentally shoot another one of our officers," said Interim Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford. A 13-year veteran of the Shelby Police Department, Detective Todd Vickery, was struck in the thigh after Officer Randy Conner pulled the trigger of what he thought was an "air soft" training gun. "And it turned out to be the real thing," Ledford said. A colored tip distinguished the training weapons from the real ones, according to police. Emergency personnel responded to the building at 3916 Polkville Road at 3:29 p.m. Vickery was taken to Cleveland Regional Medical Center but was said to be OK at 5:15 p.m., Ledford said. When contacted by phone Friday afternoon, Polkville Mayor Jack Shytle said he wasn't sure what had happened but said he was concerned when he saw paramedics returning to their station at Polkville Town Hall. The sheriff's office is investigating the shooting since it happened within their jurisdiction. Attempts to contact the sheriff's office for comment Friday evening were unsuccessful. Ledford said Conner was on administrative leave pending a Shelby Police internal investigation, which is standard procedure. He said Chaplain Glenn Davenport had already met with officers regarding the incident. "Every resource that they need, we'll make sure they get it," Ledford said of Vickery, Conner and other officers close to the situation. Off-duty officers were called Friday afternoon to let them know about the incident. No timetable has been set for Vickery's return, Ledford said. "We're just thankful that the officer is OK," Ledford said. Copyright 2008 The Shelby Star
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