In Murphy, North Carolina, a federal inmate managed to escape custody during a visit to a medical clinic and tragically shot a detention officer with the officer’s own firearm. This incident unfolded on Monday when the inmate made a bold escape from the orthopedics office in Murphy, where he was receiving medical attention for undisclosed reasons. During the commotion, the inmate managed to seize the officer’s weapon and used it to fatally shoot him. Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith recounted the sequence of events during a press conference.
Following the shooting, the inmate dashed into the parking lot and commandeered a vehicle just as it was arriving, making a quick getaway. Authorities later succeeded in apprehending the inmate in Macon County, which is located roughly an hour east of where the escape occurred.
The inmate was identified as Kelvin Simmons, aged 48. He now faces serious charges of first-degree murder. The fallen detention officer was named as Francisco Paul Flattes, aged 56, who had dedicated four years to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Smith added that Officer Flattes’ wife is also employed at the county detention center.
A separate officer sustained injuries, but these were not related to the shooting, according to Sheriff Smith. The sheriff expressed the difficulty of the situation by stating, “This has been probably one of the worst days of my career.”
Authorities in Clay County alerted deputies in Macon County that the fugitive inmate was headed toward their jurisdiction via U.S. Route 64. After a brief standoff, law enforcement was able to stop the vehicle Simmons was driving and take him into custody without further incident or injury.
At the time of the escape, Simmons was already in custody for bank robbery charges, as well as an escape that took place in October 2024.