Ned Byrd

Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd was shot and killed while on patrol shortly after 11:00 pm.

Deputy Byrd was shot multiple times after he exited his vehicle at the intersection of Battle Bridge Road and Auburn-Knightdale Road while investigating suspicious activity. He was in the area after the agency had received several calls regarding the activity; however, he had not marked out on an event when he was shot.

Another deputy located him approximately two hours later with his gun still in his holster. He had been shot three times in the chest and another three times in his head. Deputy Byrd's canine partner was still inside their patrol vehicle.

The subject, 29, and his brother, 25, both in the country illegally, were arrested one week later and charged with Deputy Byrd's murder. Both had been deported years before. On April 30, 2023, the shooter escaped from the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Virginia, where he was being held on a federal detainer while awaiting trial. He was captured in Mexico four days later, but was not returned to the United States for almost 2 years. His sister was charged with helping him escape and was sentenced to 10 months in prison. On May 31, 2023, a third brother, 19, was arrested in connection with the case. He was charged with accessory after the fact to murder and confined in the Wake County Jail under a $1 million secured bond. According to the Wake County Sheriff's Office, he sold the vehicle that his brothers used the night of Deputy Byrd's murder. In September 2024, the shooter pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without parole. In 2025, he received over five years for gun possession by a felon and two years for breaking out of prison. The brother who was in the truck with the shooter that night pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact of first-degree murder and was sentenced to at least 7 years, no more than 10 years.

Deputy Bryd was a U.S. Air Force veteran and had served with the Wake County Sheriff's Office for 13 years.

He is survived by his sister, brother-in-law, and four nephews.