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NC FF allegedly pulls gun on motorist, says he was ‘scared’

An Acme Delco Riegelwood Fire Department firefighter was attempting to stop a motorist from driving around an apparatus staging at a crash scene

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Photo/Facebook screengrab

The included video contains language and imagery some viewers may find offensive or disturbing.

By Rachel Engel

RIEGELWOOD, N.C. — A volunteer firefighter sparked outrage on social media after a video was posted of him pulling out a gun and pointing it at a motorist while on the scene of a vehicle crash.

Members of the Acme Delco Riegelwood Fire Department were working a crash scene that required closure of two westbound lanes of U.S. Highway 74/76. A fire apparatustruck was parked to block the lanes.

A witness at the scene, Brianna Grotzinger, told WRAL that she saw a car drive full speed at the crash scene and attempt to drive into the median to get around the apparatus.

In a video posted to Facebook by Tae DeLeon, Firefighter Jeff Sherwood is seen pointing a gun at DeLeon’s car.

“He came around the firetruck, [and] he then pointed his gun out because he thought he was about to get hit by this car,” Grotzinger said. “He told her to turn her vehicle off and stay put until the state trooper got there.”


In the video, Sherwood maintains his stance in front of DeLeon’s car, with his gun pointed at the driver.

“Go ahead and film all you want,” Sherwood can be seen and heard saying in the video, as DeLeon yells at him to get away from her vehicle.

Fire Chief Steve Camlin told WRAL that there’s more to the story than what the video depicts, but declined to say anything more. Sherwood was asked for a comment, but he declined, other than to “say he was scared.”

In DeLeon’s Facebook video post, she claims she was in a “confrontation” with a different firefighter before her encounter with Sherwood.

“When the State Trooper arrived, he told me it was nothing he could do bc he didn’t see anything & told me to file a report,” she wrote. “This is passed a report & was not addressed correctly. When did Fireman become police and pull guns on people?”

Deputy Director of the North Carolina State Firefighters Association Ed Brinson said firefighters are permitted to carry guns, per individual department policies.


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