Investigators in North Carolina used a wildlife game camera image and a drone to find and arrest a man wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of a Virginia sheriff’s deputy who was conducting a welfare check, authorities said.
The suspect, identified as Michael Puckett, was found with a gun on Sunday night, two days after the shooting, as he was ringing the doorbell of a home less than a few miles from the Virginia state line in Surry County, North Carolina. He was arrested, booked without bond, the state’s Bureau of Investigation said in a news release. Multiple law‑enforcement agencies took part in the search.
Puckett, 55, appeared for an extradition hearing Monday, where he waived his right to a court‑appointed lawyer and awaited transport to Virginia, WXII‑TV reported.
In Virginia, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said the fatal shooting occurred after law enforcement received a request from a family member to do a welfare check on Friday.
A man at the home began shooting, and the two sheriff’s deputies who had responded returned fire, the sheriff’s office said. Both deputies were hit and the man ran away. Other people were in the home at the time, but were not hurt, according to Carroll County Sheriff Kevin Kemp.
There was a massive search for the suspect, who was “spotted on wildlife game camera in Surry County North Carolina,” north of the city of Mount Airy, on Sunday morning, police said. A drone was used to track his movements.
Utt, 31, was a military veteran who joined the department in 2023. A funeral procession was scheduled Monday afternoon from Roanoke, Virginia, to Mount Airy, where Utt was a former firefighter.
