The hunt for an armed fugitive from Stokes County came to a grisly conclusion in Burlington where the suspect shot himself after police officers cornered him on the grounds of Springwood Park.
Thomas Mark Sharp reportedly turned the gun on himself rather than surrender to the officers, who had confronted him near the park’s soccer fields on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Burlington’s police department, Sharp had been on the run from a charge of attempted first-degree murder that the office of Stokes County’s sheriff had filed against him. His flight apparently brought him to the western border of Burlington, where his vehicle was spotted in the vicinity of Springwood Park at about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
In response to this sighting, officers from Elon and Gibsonville converged on the park to help members of Burlington’s police force track down the fugitive. The contingent from Burlington eventually brought in a remote-controlled drone, which managed to locate Sharp’s vehicle in an isolated spot not far from the park’s soccer fields.
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According to Burlington’s police department, Sharp sped through the soccer fields in a desperate attempt to shake his pursuers, only to have his vehicle disabled by the police.
“At this point, attempts were made to negotiate with Sharp for his safe surrender,” the department went on to recall in a statement on Tuesday. “During the resulting standoff, Sharp shot himself and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
According to the police department, the park was closed to visitors in the aftermath of this confrontation, which also seems to have damaged some of the soccer fields.
