Officer Howard Plouff dies from his wounds. Two men have been arrested, but “detectives have no clear leads or suspects in Plouff’s death.”
There are some more interesting details, however.
…Plouff went to the Red Rooster with other officers after a 2 a.m. call for help from Foryth County sheriff’s deputies. Four deputies were at the bar on off-duty security assignment when several fights broke out, police said…..
It’s not clear how the deputies had handled the fights. Police referred those questions to the sheriff’s office. Neither Sheriff Bill Schatzman nor a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, Capt. Brad Stanley, returned phone calls yesterday.
After the fight started, bouncers intervened, turned on the lights and told people over the loudspeaker to get out. Deputies outside directed many of them to stand next to the building, witnesses said.
Others went to their cars. At least one of the fights kept going.
That’s when someone working security for the club pulled out a gun and fired into the air, said Matthew Couthen, 19, who was at the club.
Asked if someone working security was the first to shoot, Clayton would say only that law-enforcement officers did not fire their guns in the incident.
Jacobs, the club owner, declined to comment when asked if a bouncer shot into the air.
All this said, it’s not clear at all who shot into the air, meaning it’s entirely possible one of the deputies working security did. Funny how the City of Winston-Salem just last week finally put the Daryl Hunt case to rest. Now both the city and the county have a huge mess to deal with. It’s interesting that the Journal didn’t get a response from Sheriff Schatzman. I’m sure he’s still sorting things out, but it should be noted he’s recently had a few problems of his own which have resulted in a testy relationship with the local media.
