DOBSON, N.C. -- A North Carolina police officer is recovering after being shot during a domestic violence call in which he killed a suspect.
Dobson Police Officer Brian Thomas was shot in the ankle and thigh after responding to the call early Monday. Thomas was in stable condition at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
A police department spokesman said the suspected shooter was dead at the scene from gunshot wounds after Thomas returned fire. Police say 51-year-old Lonnie Badgett used a handgun and semi-automatic rifle to shoot at Thomas and Surry County Sheriff's Sgt. Wayne Banks. Banks wasn't hurt.
Badgett's wife told police her husband threw a piano bench and struck her with the butt of the rifle during an argument about the care of dogs left in the house while they traveled.
