Defendant who scuffled with deputies inside NC courtroom dies

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — Authorities say the defendant in a North Carolina trial who was shot by a police officer after he scuffled with sheriff’s deputies inside a courtroom has died.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation says in a news release that the shooting occurred on Thursday inside the Person County Courthouse in Roxboro after 36-year-old Christopher Thomas Vaughan tried to take a bailiff’s weapon.

News outlets report Vaughan had become enraged after he was found guilty of false imprisonment.

Vaughan charged at the judge’s bench and was stopped by two deputies before he was shot.

The SBI is investigating the incident.