A man died Thursday after an overnight confrontation with deputies in Nash County.
The sheriff's office said that deputies responded around 9:20 p.m. to a call about domestic violence at a home along Tom George Road, off Taylors Store Road, north of Nashville, which is east of Louisburg.
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According to Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone, the caller indicated to 911 dispatchers that her father was holding a knife to her mother's throat, adding that the caller told authorities the man wanted "death by cop" and was loading a gun.
Sheriff Stone confirmed the man's name was Christopher Erb.
Stone said that Erb came out of the home around 11 p.m. with an AR-15 rifle and began approaching deputies while raising his rifle.
"It's just, it's really unfortunate. I wish there could have been different ways to resolve that issue," said Sharif Elsayed, a friend of Erb's.
Stone confirmed that a sniper with the sheriff's office's special response team shot Erb after he approached deputies with the rifle.
Erb died from his injuries from the shot.
Erb’s aunt, Mary Yoder Cruz, told WRAL News she was negotiating over the phone with him and the Sheriff’s Office, as he barricaded himself inside the home.
“He said that, yes, he was fighting with his wife, and I knew that that was in the first phone call, and that when they knocked on the door. She went out. The police helped her get away. And he said there were 17 pistols pointed at his head.”
Cruz told WRAL News this was one of the hardest things she’s experienced.
“I mean, I’m trying to understand why it all happened like it did,” Cruz said.
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Elsayed, a long-time friend, said he was in a state of disbelief upon hearing the news.
"Every marriage has its ups and downs," Elsayed said.
"Chris loved his wife very much, so would do anything in the world for any part of his family," he added.
Stone told WRAL News that deputies had responded to Erb's home on multiple occasions and that Erb had a history of mental health issues before the shooting.
Elsayed said Erb was the father of two children.
"God bless them," he said. "I feel bad for his entire family."