Man in deadly officer-involved shooting, standoff was wanted for murdering homeless man, Fayetteville police say

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — The man who barricaded himself inside a Fayetteville apartment was wanted for the murder of a homeless man, police told CBS 17.

Officers with Fayetteville Police Violent Criminal Apprehension Team and an agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Apprehension Team attempted to serve a murder arrest warrant to 33-year-old Shakoor Williams on Tuesday.

Fayetteville’s Police Chief Kem Braden said Williams armed and barricaded himself inside for nearly four hours at the Kings Cross Apartments near Morganton Road.

Witnesses said he came out after firing shots inside the apartment. They said he was met with gunfire from the officers. Williams was pronounced dead at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

CBS 17 learned on Wednesday that the arrest warrant was for the murder of Willie Russell. The 31-year-old was shot and killed along Seneca Drive on Mother’s Day. He was walking to a friend’s home to take a shower. Russell lived in a tent behind a church in Fayetteville.

“He was a go-getter, hard worker, know what to do, and how to do it,” Nick Russell said.

Russell said his brother fell on hard times, became homeless and addicted to drugs.

“It’s very heartbreaking. At the time I wasn’t able to be there in Fayetteville, I got accepted to a university here in Kentucky,” Russell said.

He said he would send money and be a listening ear for his brother. He had just visited the victim in February. Willie was in the process of getting clean of drugs.

“It hits even harder when you know you tried all you can and then they’re just no longer here,” his brother said.

He believes his brother possibly owed money to the suspects. However, he said it shouldn’t have cost him his life.

“Regardless of how things are with this situation, I know that it’s already being taken care of with the authorities, with God, and there is not much else I can do but keep doing the best I can with this life I got going on,” Nick Russell said.

According to court documents, Williams spent time behind bars for a second-degree murder conviction in 2011. Markeith Rushing is a second suspect in Russell’s death. He remains in the Cumberland County Detention Center.

Meanwhile, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating Tuesday’s officer-involved shooting.

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