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Henderson County Sheriff's Deputy Dies After Shooting

Henderson County sheriff’s deputy Ryan Hendrix died Thursday from wounds he suffered while responding to a call about gunfire near the Mountain Home area north of Hendersonville early Thursday morning.  

The sheriff’s department says deputies responded to a call shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday on Bethea Drive, where shots were reported after a suspected breaking and entering of a vehicle.  Once deputies arrived, they exchanged shots with suspects, that left one suspect dead and Hendrix wounded.  The 35-year-old and 8-year veteran of the department was taken to Mission Hospital where he died hours later.  In a Facebook post, the Henderson County sheriff’s department wrote that Hendrix’s family said ‘he died doing the job he loved.’  

The suspect who was killed at the scene has been identified as Robert Ray Doss Jr.  His last known address was in Virginia, and he was wanted by probation officers in South Carolina according to the Henderson County sheriff.  The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is investigating the shooting.  

Matt Bush joined Blue Ridge Public Radio as news director in August 2016. Excited at the opportunity the build up the news service for both stations as well as help launch BPR News, Matt made the jump to Western North Carolina from Washington D.C. For the 8 years prior to coming to Asheville, he worked at the NPR member station in the nation's capital as a reporter and anchor. Matt primarily covered the state of Maryland, including 6 years of covering the statehouse in Annapolis. Prior to that, he worked at WMAL in Washington and Metro Networks in Pittsburgh, the city he was born and raised in.