HERTFORD CO., NC — An Ahoskie man has been convicted on federal charges after officials say he shot at law enforcement last summer.
Talametrius Kenyon Spruill, 42, was convicted of being a felon in possession of ammunition by a North Carolina federal jury, according to the Department of Justice.
The DOJ says that evidence and court records prove that Spruill had four cartridge casings that he left behind after firing at Hertford County Sheriff's Deputies on July 16, 2023.
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Deputies responded to a call about a "suspicious person" banging on a woman's window at 3 a.m., according to a release about the conviction. The first officer to respond found Spruill sitting in the front seat of the homeowner's car, holding a gun.
Spruill ran away toward the woods after the deputy said to put down the gun, according to the DOJ. A second deputy saw Spruill near the tree line when he arrived. The second deputy got out of his car with his gun drawn, told Spruill to show his hands and approached where Spruill was crouched in a shallow drainage ditch.
Spruill fired a Glock 19 semiautomatic at the deputy, according to the DOJ. The deputy returned fire.
Though neither Spruill nor the deputy were shot in the exchange, the deputy did trip over a doghouse on the property and was bit by the resident dog.
Attorneys say that Spruill evaded police until he was found attempting to crawl under his aunt's house four miles away in Aulander.
Spruill was arrested and interviewed by the FBI where he confessed to being at the original incident, running away, firing his weapon and getting rid of the gun in a junkyard, according to the DOJ.
He faces the maximum penalty of 180 months in prison for the ammunition charges and still faces state charges of two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official and possession of a firearm by a felon.
The DOJ says sentencing will happen at a later date.
