Sam Poloche gave his all for others. Ultimately, he gave his life in Charlotte shooting
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Law enforcement officers shot, killed in east Charlotte
On April 29, 2024, a suspect being served a warrant fired a high-powered rifle at officers in Charlotte, killing four and injuring four others. Here is ongoing coverage from The Charlotte Observer.
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Sam Poloche had a lot to look forward to, his father said.
One of four law enforcement officers killed in east Charlotte Monday, he had two sons, ages 21 and 18, who were set to graduate from high school and college in just weeks.
His work as an investigator for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction was important to him, but “his main purpose in life was his family,” according to Samuel Antonio Poloche, his father.
Poloche, 42, was a reserved man, but he often showed extraordinary kindness, his father said. When he saw elderly strangers at restaurants, he’d sometimes pay for their meals.
“He liked to help people,” his father said. “He would help anybody who needed help.”
He enjoyed returning to Orlando, where he grew up, so he could take his family to Disney World. And he loved the outdoors, particularly the joy of visiting national parks with his family, his father said.
And when he wasn’t working or traveling, he liked to pursue his hobby at his home in Monroe — making beautiful leather belts, wallets and purses, which he often gave to family members and friends.
“I carry with me one of the wallets he made for me,” his father said, beginning to choke up.
Heeding the call
While growing up, Poloche had always wanted to serve his country in some way, his father said.
After getting his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UNC Pembroke in 2009, he got the opportunity to do so in 2010, when he was hired to work as a probation officer by the state Department of Public Safety.
In 2013, he joined the Department of Adult Correction’s Special Operations and Intelligence Unit, an agency whose goal is to collect and analyze intelligence information to reduce crime and enhance public safety.
He was good at the work, his father said. The state gave him a token each time he helped solve a case, and he had a plaque that was full of them.
He recently worked as an investigator for an FBI task force on public corruption before returning to his job at the state, where it was his responsibility to serve warrants on fugitives.
“We knew about the risks, but we never expected this,” his father said.
‘God is in control’
Poloche was working with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force around 1:30 pm. Monday, trying to serve a warrant on a felon for possession of a firearm at a home in Charlotte’s Shannon Park neighborhood.
When the gunfire erupted, Poloche was shot to death, along with two other task force members — Alden Elliott, and Thomas “Tommy” Weeks, a deputy U.S. Marshal.
Officers shot back, striking the suspect. He later died in the home’s front yard.
Scores of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers raced to the scene, and four of them were shot and injured. A fifth CMPD officer, Joshua Eyer, was killed.
Police said the deceased suspect was Terry Clark Hughes, Jr, 39, who was wanted for possession of a firearm by a felon and a charge of fleeing to elude arrest out of Lincoln County.
When Poloche and his wife, Cielo, had lunch with his parents at Carrabbas restaurant in Matthews on Sunday, he said he was looking forward to celebrating his father’s upcoming birthday on May 3.
Now Poloche’s father is hoping that the family’s faith will help sustain them through an extraordinarily painful time.
“We grew up as a church family,” he said. “We know God is in control all the time. That’s the hope we have now — that someday we’ll see him again.”
This story was originally published April 30, 2024 at 12:43 PM with the headline "Sam Poloche gave his all for others. Ultimately, he gave his life in Charlotte shooting."
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