A North Carolina detention officer received a deadly shot during a “fight” in a medical center after a federal inmate who had been taken to the installation to receive treatment managed to seize his weapon, authorities said.
The inmate was arrested after fleeing in a stolen vehicle and now faces a murder charge, according to the Cerokee County Sheriff, Dustin Smith.
“This has probably been one of the worst days of my career,” Smith said during a press conference on Monday night. “This is a difficult day for the application of the law for Cherokee County.”
The inmate, identified as Kelvin Simmons, 48, had been transported to a medical center for orthopedic treatment after he would complain about foot pain, according to Smith.
Two detention officers were escorting Simmons: a high protocol after the inmate had previously tried a failed escape from the Cherokee County Detention Center last year, Smith said.
One of the officers, Francisco Flattes, 56, was shot at the medical center, said the Sheriff.
Cherokee County Sheriff, Dustin Smith, addresses journalists, June 30, 2025.
Bullet
“There was a fight, and that was when the officer’s weapon was removed,” said Smith.
Flattes was urgently taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead. The other officer, George Feinauer, was injured during the incident, but is expected to recover, Smith said.
Simmons is accused of stealing a vehicle from someone who was in the medical center and fleeing the scene. He was later arrested in Macon County, North Carolina. No one else was in the vehicle. He was transported to a hospital in the area after complaining about pain in his feet, said the sheriff.
Simmons is a federal inmate who was being housed in Cherokee County for bank robbery charges, according to Smith. Online records show that he declared himself guilty of bank theft by force or violence and the theft of motor vehicles in 2023, but has not yet been sentenced.
Simmons also faces exhaust charges after trying to leave the Cherokee County Detention Center in October 2024 by climbing on a fence, according to Smith.
He will be accused of first degree murder in the death of Flattes, according to the local district prosecutor, Ashley Hornsby Welch.
“We anticipate that more positions will be presented,” he said in the informative session. “We have also been in contact with the Office of the United States prosecutor, and I think it is likely that the charges also come from them.”
Flattes had been to the Sheriff’s office for four years, said Smith. His wife also works for the Cherokee County Detention Center and his son -in -law works for the Sheriff’s office.
“I just ask you to pray for our office, for the family of Officer Flattes,” said Smith.
