Sampson County sheriff’s deputy shot while responding to a stolen vehicle call

A Sampson County sheriff’s deputy was shot and seriously wounded while responding to a report of a stolen car early Saturday morning.

Deputy Caitlin Emanuel was airlifted to a regional trauma center and had surgery Saturday, according to the sheriff’s office. A GoFundMe page to raise money to help with Emanuel’s recovery says she was shot several times in the leg.

The sheriff’s office said one suspect was arrested but that deputies continued to look for a second man they thought was involved. Deputies later ruled that out and called off their search, according to the sheriff’s office.

The shooting took place on Hayne Stretch Road, outside Roseboro, just after 2 a.m. Saturday. According to the sheriff’s office, Emanuel responded to a call about a stolen motor vehicle and found the vehicle and two men near where Hayne Stretch meets Butler Island Road.

“Shortly after making contact with the suspects, the deputy called for assistance,” according to a statement from the sheriff’s department. “A second deputy responding to the scene discovered that the initial responding deputy had been shot.”

Emanuel was taken by patrol car to Sampson Regional Medical Center in Clinton before being airlifted. She was listed in stable condition Saturday.

Meanwhile, officers from several agencies, including the State Highway Patrol and sheriff’s departments in neighboring Bladen and Cumberland, began searching for two men thought to be involved.

At about 4:45 a.m., they arrested Michael A. Walthall Jr. of Pennsylvania on nearby Sir Lane. The sheriff’s office later charged Walthall, 46, with several crimes, including assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a law enforcement officer, larceny of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon and driving while impaired.

He is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail and is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Clinton on Aug. 19.

Emanuel has been with the sheriff’s department for a little more than two years. In a Facebook post Sunday, Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said Emanuel is “recovering well, but still has a long road ahead,” and asked people to keep her and her family in their thoughts and prayers.

“I pray that her recovery is speedy,” Thornton wrote in another post Saturday. “I cannot imagine the anguish she is going through. I know God will carry her through.”