Full story in Saturday’s Sampson Independent
The officer-involved shooting death of a motorcyclist back in May near Kitty Fork has been ruled “justified” by the District Attorney’s office, and no criminal charges will be filed against the Sampson County sheriff’s deputy who fired the weapon.
Word of that finding came Friday around noon, when Ernie Lee, the district attorney representing the Fifth Prosecutorial District that includes Sampson, emailed a press release to media, notifying them that the death of Billy Joe Faircloth, 40, “while tragic,’ was substantiated.
The officer, who has never been identified, was immediately reinstated to active duty Friday, Sheriff’s Capt. Marcus Smith said in a telephone interview.
“He’s good to go” back to work,” Smith said Friday.
He had been on administrative leave, meaning he worked in the Sheriff’s Office, but not as an active duty officer.
That changed once Lee offered his findings.
“Based on my review of the facts of this case,” Lee wrote in the release, “I have determined that the shooting of Faircloth on May 24, 2025, was justified to protect the safety and lives of the deputies on scene. The deputy who fired the fatal shots perceived an apparent threat, evaluated the situation in seconds, decided, and acted. The deputy’s actions appear reasonable under all the circumstances of the case.”
Lee noted that his investigation included reviewing SBI findings, video recorded statements of officers, camera footage, autopsy results, photographs and a review by three other assistant district attorneys.
The investigation showed, that, in all, the deputy fired all 18 rounds from the magazine in his 9mm handgun at Faircloth, who was also armed, striking him seven times — in the head, the neck, the arms, the chest and the shoulder — in what the release noted was approximately five seconds.
That deputy was the only officer who fired a weapon, the investigation noted, and he was approximately 12-15 yards from the suspect when he opened fire.
Medical examiner Dr. Carl Barr said the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.
See the full story, including a phone interview with Dr. Barr, in Saturday’s Sampson Independent newspaper.