A Huntersville Police officer shot a driver who slammed into the officer after a domestic dispute early Saturday in which she was charged with various offenses, police said.
The suspect, 44-year-old Huntersville resident Amanda Nicole Benton, was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to a police news release.
Two Huntersville officers were treated at a hospital for minor injuries and released, police said.
About 1:15 a.m., officers responded to a domestic disturbance in the 14500 block of Cordial Lane, police said. That’s off Reese Boulevard west of Interstate 77 Gilead Road, exit 25.
The person who called police said Benton was in her car in the parking lot. Benton accelerated as officers neared the car, police said.
An officer fired and struck Benton. Huntersville officers immediately provided first aid to Benton until Medic arrived and took her to the hospital, according to the police department.
Police are not releasing details of the domestic disturbance but said they charged Benton in the dispute.
Benton faces felony counts of second-degree kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon (the vehicle) with intent to kill and misdemeanor counts of simple assault, false imprisonment, domestic assault, resisting a public officer and assault with a deadly weapon.
Per their standard protocol, police asked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to criminally investigate the shooting, and police consulted the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office.
Police said they will publicly name the officer after the SBI completes interviews and the investigation.
The Huntersville officer who shot Benton was placed on paid administrative leave, which also is standard protocol, pending the SBI investigation and an internal review.
Police urged anyone with information about the domestic dispute to contact Huntersville Police Detective Lt. Jennifer Sprague at 704-464-5400 or jsprague@huntersville.org; or North Meck Crimestoppers at 704-896-7867.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
