Gregory Ray Cribb
Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell said Gregory Ray Cribb pointed a weapon at a deputy who was among those trying to arrest him on warrants for robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping and violent habitual felon. The weapon, Campbell said, was an Airsoft rifle, which he said is indistinguishable from a real semi-automatic weapon.
The charges were from 2021 according to a press release. The release says that Hickory Police tried to arrest Cribb for robbery with a dangerous weapon and kidnapping. Campbell said Cribb was wounded in the attempt to arrest him. He was treated for non-life threatening injuries and released on bond. Campbell said he had been eluding law enforcement since failing to appear in court.
Three people have been charged with misdemeanor harboring a fugitive. They’ve been identified as Heather Lynn Hopkins, 46, of Bell Farm Road, Statesville, David Allen Metz Jr., 52, and Christy Arnold Fayne, 51, both of Winston-Salem.
As previously reported, Iredell Deputies went to a home in the 100 block of Bell Farm Road on Friday, June 30th after receiving information he was there. After nearly an hour of unsuccessfully attempting to get someone to answer the door, the deputies left the residence.
Less than an hour later, a citizen contacted the sheriff’s office and indicated a person matching Cribb’s description was seen at the house, Campbell said. Deputies returned and used a loudspeaker and knocked on the door for more than an hour before three other adults came to the door. The people who came to the door, Campbell said, did not include Cribb.
Deputies searched the home but did not locate anyone inside. During the search, Campbell said, they found a small door in a bedroom closet that provided access to a hidden crawlspace. A deputy, who Campbell described as a veteran of the office, entered the crawlspace from the backside of the home and found a man hiding.
The deputy gave commands to the man, who displayed what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle and pointed it at the deputy, Campbell said.
The deputy then fired multiple rounds at the man, later identified as Cribb, Campbell said. Emergency medical services responded and pronounced Cribb dead at the scene.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is conducting the investigation into the shooting and the deputy is currently on administrative leave, both of which are standard protocol for an officer-involved shooting. That investigation will be turned over to the District Attorney’s office to determine if the shooting was justified.
Sheriff Cambell stated “The deputy’s actions were appropriate under the circumstances, and I support the difficult decision he had to make, as it was a last resort.”
Photo: Iredell County Sheriff’s Office