LENOIR, NC --Fifteen members of
the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department tactical
team joined law enforcement from Gaston, Avery
and Catawba Counties in the manhunt for a man
accused of shooting two Caldwell County Sheriffs
deputies Friday night, killing one of the
deputies and wounding the other.
Authorities in Caldwell
County are looking for Skip Brinkley. He's
accused of shooting the deputies after they
responded to a domestic disturbance call.
Hibriten High School in Lenoir was set up as a
staging area to check in the more than 60 members
of law enforcement.
Around 3:15 p.m., radio
traffic indicated searchers near a command post
set up at Oak Hill School off of Highway 90 in
Lenoir found footprints, possibly of the suspect.
A helicopter may have also spotted Brinkley.
The FBI out of Charlotte, US
Marshals, NC Highway Patrol as well as law
enforcement from Iredell, Catawba, Polk,
Rutherford, Wilkes and Watauga Counties, were
also responding to Hibriten High School to assist
in the search.
Sheriff Tim Daugherty, Chief
Deputy Barry Taylor and Captain Howard Eason was
part of the team staging in Lenoir.
"We're waiting on
instructions from the Caldwell County Sheriff's
Office," said Daugherty in exclusive video
on The Carolina Scoop.
Daugherty said his main
concern was the safety of his men.
"This guy's already
taken one life," said Daugherty. "We
want everyone who goes in to look for him to come
back out."
The team left the Lincoln
County Sheriff's Office in a convoy and arrived
in Lenoir around 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
"We will be relieving
other teams who have been searching for the
suspect," said Daugherty, adding relief
teams will be going in every four hours until
dusk.
After dusk, teams will be
rotated every two hours.
Daugherty said he hopes the
suspect will give himself up.
"As it gets colder, this
Brinkley guy will run out of food and
water," said Daugherty. "It's going to
get very rough for him."
Daugherty added his men are
in the search for the long haul.
