https://www.facebook.com/CherokeeScoutnews/videos/1359921128094141
Bear Paw – Dramatic video of a Murphy man being shot by the Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT team appears to contradict key details of a press release issued by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office after the incident.
The video has led to national media coverage of the case, a follow-up press release by Sheriff Dustin Smith expressing his desire for a sheriff’s office SWAT team and the resignation of Darryl Brown as the sheriff’s office attorney.
Jason Harley Kloepfer, 41, was wounded in an officer-involved shooting in the early morning hours of Dec. 13 at 1790 Upper Bear Paw Road. The incident had “an armed suspect present and the potential for a hostage situation,” according to a press release issued by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office later that day.
The release said “the suspected shooter engaged in a verbal altercation with officers and emerged from a camper and confronted officers. Members of the Cherokee Indian Police SWAT Team fired upon the suspect and wounded him.”
However, home security camera footage posted to Facebook by Kloepfer on Jan. 18 appears to show the man complying with officers’ orders to exit his camper with his hands up, at which time members of the SWAT fired upon him within four seconds. Kloepfer was struck by multiple bullets but survived and is recovering from his wounds.
Kloepfer has been charged with communicating threats, and resist, obstruct, and delay, according to the sheriff’s office’s Dec. 13 press release, which also said the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case.
“We are out of state for fear of our lives since I got out the hospital,” Kloepfer wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. “I can’t talk to much about details right now as this is major case still evolving.
“But like I said 5 weeks ago, trust me the news is completely wrong and so are my charges. ... This has been and still is a horrible nightmare we are trying to get thru.”
Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith had requested the assistance of the Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT team during the incident. Smith said in a press release on Friday that the Dec. 13 statement issued by his office “was prepared by the county attorney based on information my office received from CIPD.”
Smith went on to say that neither he nor Chief Deputy Justin Jacobs were on the scene at the time of the shooting and instead “relied on information provided to us from the Cherokee Indian Police Department.” Smith said his goal was “to update the public on a dangerous situation.”
According to Friday’s press release, Smith saw Kloepfer’s video footage for the first time on Jan. 18 and has been told that the state and district attorney’s office has been notified of the footage as well. He concludes the press release by announcing his intention to ask county commissioners for the funds to create a tactical unit like the one used by Tribal Police.
Smith declined further comment on Monday, citing an ongoing investigation into the incident. Neither Kloepfer nor his attorney could be reached for comment.
The series of events began late on Dec. 12 when Cherokee County E-911 Communications received a call at about 11 p.m. indicating a disturbance with several gunshots fired at 1790 Upper Bear Paw Road.
Cherokee County E-911 records show that another resident of the neighborhood called to report a male named Jason “saying he will kill everyone in the neighborhood.” The documents go on to say the caller “has on video the male saying send the cops I’ll get them too.” The caller also reported that the male and a female had been fighting for about 45 minutes and that she had heard about 10 shots fired.
A Cherokee County E-911 Communications history search showed 14 calls related to the 1790 Upper Bear Paw Road address since May 21, 2020. Those calls included noise complaints, other types of “disturbance,” and a report of assault.
The sheriff’s office’s Dec. 13 press release said deputies arrived on the scene about 11:17 p.m. but were unable to make contact with the alleged shooter. Instead, the sheriff’s office obtained a search warrant and requested assistance from the Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT team.
In the surveillance video posted to Facebook by Kloepfer, he describes it as “Firing Squad at 5 a.m.” and “Police shoot unarmed disabled man.” Kloepfer’s video begins at 4:54 a.m. on Dec. 13, according to the timestamp, when someone opens the door to the camper and tosses a robotic drone inside.
About a minute later, Kloepfer and a woman — identified on his Facebook page as Alison Mahler — wake up as the drone moves around and shines its flashlight into their bedroom. Kloepfer later appears to have an object in his hand, pointing it at the drone. The two ask questions such as “What’s going on?” and “Hello?”
The video cuts out for 15 seconds and resumes with Kloepfer lighting a cigarette in bed. Seconds later, a voice from a loudspeaker outside the camper says, “Jason, step outside the camper and talk to us.”
Further instructions follow in the ensuing moments. “Come outside, Jason. ... Step outside the door onto the deck and show us your hands. ... Jason, we just want to talk to you, come outside.”
Kloepfer picks up the drone off the floor, holding it in his right hand, then opens the camper door at the 4:57:16 mark on the video. He steps outside with his hands up, with Mahler close behind him. Four seconds later, several shots ring out and Kloepfer stumbles backward as Mahler helps pull him back inside the camper.
Kloepfer repeatedly screams, “I’m shot!” while Mahler yells “He’s shot! What the hell did you do?”
Officers scream for Kloepfer to come out with his hands up, but both he and Mahler shout that he’s been shot. At one point, Mahler tells officers that Kloepfer “is disabled.”
Within two minutes, Tribal Police officers drag Kloepfer from the camper as one instructs others to “Start working on him now.”
Minutes later, three Tribal Police officers go back inside the camper, referencing a “secondary sweep.” One officer addresses another, “[Expletive], bro, [expletive].” Another officer quickly responds that “there’s cameras, there’s cameras,” though it is not clear whether he is referring to officer body cameras or Kloepfer’s security cameras.
Kloepfer’s online video ends by replaying that exchange between the officers.
“The moment they knew they messed up!” one social media user replied.
The story has received coverage from outlets such as the New York Post and the London, England-based Daily Mail. One video of the incident posted to Twitter had already received 7.3 million views as of Monday night.
The sheriff’s press release Friday, which was not prepared by Brown, led to the attorney’s resignation from his role with the sheriff’s office.
Brown, who had served as the sheriff’s office attorney since July 2018, allowed his resignation letter to be public record. In it, he states that he has “never found any proposals made by the Sheriff nor his staff, that I believed to be contrary to the interests of Cherokee County and its citizens. That is no longer the case.”
Brown said Friday’s press release was issued without his knowledge and that he believes the idea of forming a county SWAT team is “contrary to the best interests of Cherokee County.” He goes on to say such a team would come “at a high cost, minimal use and open the county to TREMENDOUS amounts of liability.”
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners briefly discussed a resolution that opposes forming a county tactical team Monday night, before tabling the issue until their Feb. 6 meeting.