Police: Shelby Officer Shot Loses Finger, Faces Multiple Surgeries

Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford talked to our news partner The Shelby Star.

Ledford said Officer Josh Turner lost a finger, and now faces multiple surgeries to repair his hand after he was shot during a standoff late Thursday night.

As of Monday morning-- Turner had been discharged from Carolinas Medical Center.

Police said the shooting incident started with a domestic disturbance call on Shannon House Road. Officers said they chased Germaine Farmer into his home.

After Farmer shot Officer Turner, police said he ran out of the home and to another home up the street. Farmer’s family said it was the home of his ex-girlfriend.

Police surrounded that home until Farmer came out and exchanged gunfire with deputies. Police said Farmer was killed.

Officers said Farmer started a small fire inside the home before he came out. Later, police discovered the burned body of Tanisha Strong, 21, Farmer's ex-girlfriend. His family said the two had just broken up and he was not handling it well.

Eyewitness News watched as Farmer's mother and Strong's father shared a tearful hug.

"It's hard on her, it's hard on me," Strong's father, Eugene Hopper, said. "She loved my daughter as much as I loved her son. It's still hard either way it goes."

Tonya Vinson said her cousin was bi-polar, and had attempted suicide earlier in the week. She said, "With the breakup, I was worried that if he didn't get any help it would go this far."

She said as late as Wednesday he went to a hospital, trying to check himself in.

Turner has been with the Shelby Police Department for just over a year.

Officer Mike Fussel was also involved in the shooting and is now on leave. Four Cleveland County deputies are also on adminstrative duty after the shooting. This is standard procedure for officers after a shooting.