D During its April 6 meeting, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council unanimously approved an ordinance change  exempting police car and body cam videos from the tribe’s public records law. The vote comes on the heels of a Dec. 13, 2022, Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT response  in which officers fired at Murphy resident Jason Harley Kloepfer after he opened the door to his home with his hands held above his head, according to a home security video Kloepfer posted Jan. 18.

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This story has been updated from the original version published Wednesday, March 29, to include reporting from additional public records related to Sheriff Dustin Smith's whereabouts the night of the shooting and a proposed law in Cherokee that would exempt police body cameras from the tribe's public records law.

As the State Bureau of Investigation continues its probe into the Dec. 13, 2022, police shooting that severely wounded Murphy resident Jason Harley Kloepfer, District Attorney Ashley Welch is seeking to recuse herself from handling the fallout — because statements members of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office made to Welch and one of her assistant district attorneys mean they are now witnesses in the investigation.

Jason Harley Kloepfer left his home near Murphy on Dec. 13, 2022, with bullets in his body and criminal charges in the courthouse. Now, more than two months after an officer-involved shooting that made international headlines, misdemeanor charges accusing Kloepfer of communicating threats and resisting a public officer have been dropped.

There’s some truth to the old cliché that one readily recognizable sound is the ultimate deterrent against a would-be home intruder.

When officers shot Murphy resident Jason Harley Kloepfer, 41, while responding to a disturbance call Monday, Dec. 12, a press release from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said it happened because Kloepfer “engaged in a verbal altercation with officers” and confronted them as he emerged from his camper trailer.

Swain County Emergency Management today released audio from a 911 call that sheds light on the circumstances leading up to the death of beloved community member Lambert Wilson. Wilson died from gunshot wounds Oct. 20 at the El Camino Motel in Cherokee, which he owned.  

My wife and I were truly blessed to have our children, some relatives and close friends gathered for Thanksgiving, which has always been my favorite holiday. So many of the people I love, all together around the table and nothing on the agenda except to re-tell stories from the past, muse about the future, revel in each other’s company and eat until we couldn’t. The world’s problems seemed to melt away.

In 2020, a trial court accepted the qualified immunity defense of Macon County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Anthony Momphard for the 2018 killing of Scott Knibbs.

The friends and family of two Sylva boys who died following a tragic shooting incident Sunday, March 27, gathered in the dark Saturday, April 2, for a candlelight vigil at Sylva’s Bridge Park to commemorate lives ended too soon and show support for the grieving parents. 

He’d been on duty since 5 p.m. and it was already shaping up to be a busy night, but as Eric Batchelor sat in his patrol car writing up reports around 2 a.m. on July 28, 2020, he got another call about a disturbance.