Cherokee Tribal Police are investigating an apparent robbery/homicide at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Cherokee.
The Cherokee Tribal Dispatch received a call at 9:58pm on Sunday, Sept. 30 from a local resident reporting shots being fired near the residences of Reuben Taylor Road. This residential area is in close proximity to the Fairfield Inn & Suites.
A Cherokee Tribal Police Officer found a person who had been shot in the front of the Fairfield Inn & Suites. Other officers and the Tribal EMS responded to the scene.
Witnesses said a person with a black mask and dark clothing grabbed a purse from the victim and fired a weapon. They also said the person was thought to have fled toward a light blue or gray full size truck, possibly a Ford or Dodge extended cab. The truck fled away traveling north on US 19 toward Maggie Valley.
The Cherokee Tribal Police, Jackson County Sheriffs Department and the NC SBI are investigating the incident as a homicide stemming from an apparent robbery.
The name of the victim has not been released pending further investigation.
– Cherokee Tribal Police
