More details have been released regarding an officer-involved shooting last week. WHKY previously reported on the incident Monday (July 3).

On Friday, (June 30) the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office received information that a wanted felon, Gregory Ray Cribb, was at his Bell Farm Road residence in Statesville. Deputies learned that Cribb was a confirmed Folk Nation gang member and had outstanding warrants for his arrest out of Catawba County for felony counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, second degree kidnapping, and violent habitual felon stemming from an incident in Hickory in 2021.

Iredell County Deputies responded to the Bell Farm Road address in an attempt to find Cribb and take him into custody. After arriving at the residence, deputies could not get anyone to answer the door after nearly an hour on the scene and left the residence.

Less than one hour after deputies left the residence, a concerned citizen contacted deputies, indicating that a subject matching Cribb’s description had just walked out of the same house and returned inside. Deputies responded to the home for a second time to try and find Cribb.

Deputies used a loudspeaker and knocked on the door for over an hour before getting a response. A female came to the front door along with two other adults, none of which were Cribb, and none of them matched Cribb’s description. After speaking with the occupants, their conflicting stories, and the fact that no one observed a subject fitting Cribb’s leave after deputies received the call, indicated Cribb was likely still inside the residence.

Deputies searched the inside of the residence but did not find anyone. During the search, deputies found a small door in a bedroom closet, which deputies later learned provided access to a hidden crawlspace. A veteran Deputy Sheriff entered the crawlspace from the backside of the residence, where he encountered a man hiding.

The Deputy began giving commands to the suspect, who, in response, displayed a semi-automatic rifle, pointing it at the Deputy. The Deputy then fired multiple rounds at the suspect. Emergency medical services responded to the scene, where they pronounced the suspect, Gregory Cribb, deceased. The semi-automatic rifle Cribb possessed was later found to be an Airsoft rifle which was indistinguishable in appearance from an actual firearm.

During this investigation, deputies learned that Gregory Cribb had a decades-long violent criminal history. The warrants Iredell County deputies were trying to serve stem from an incident in Hickory on September 30, 2021, where Hickory Police Officers had to use deadly force against Crib. In that incident, Hickory Police Officers tried to arrest Cribb for Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon and Kidnapping when officers were forced to fire shots, striking Cribb. Cribb was admitted to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Cribb had been on the run since failing to appear in court to answer to those charges.

Three individuals in the home at the time of this incident are charged with misdemeanor harboring a fugitive. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the incident. The Deputy involved in the shooting is presently on administrative leave, which is standard procedure while investigating an officer’s use of deadly force. The Deputy’s name will be withheld until the criminal and administrative investigations are complete.

Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said in a news release that the involved Deputy is a veteran with the Sheriff’s Office who used the facts presently available to use deadly force to protect himself. The Deputy’s actions were appropriate under the circumstances, and he said he supports the difficult decision he had to make, as it was a last resort.

Gregory Cribb was reportedly a verified member of the Folk Nation Gang by the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections.