President Joe Biden on Thursday met with the families of four North Carolina law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty earlier this week while serving a warrant.

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden on Thursday met with the families of four North Carolina law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty earlier this week while serving a warrant

  • The meeting took place behind closed doors with little fanfare

  • The four officers were killed earlier when a wanted man opened fire on a joint agency task force that had come to arrest him on a warrant for possession of a firearm as an ex-felon, and fleeing to elude capture; four other officers were wounded in the gunfire

  • The visit comes just one week after the president visited with the grieving families of two police officers who were killed in upstate New York

The president visited with the "families of the fallen heroes, the wounded law enforcement officers and their families, other law enforcement officers and elected officials," the White House said of the meeting, which took place behind closed doors with little fanfare.

The four officers were killed earlier when a wanted man opened fire on a joint agency task force that had come to arrest him on a warrant for possession of a firearm as an ex-felon, and fleeing to elude capture. They were identified as Sam Poloche and William Elliott of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Officer Joshua Eyer; and Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks.

Four other officers were wounded in the gunfire; the suspect was killed. An AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a 40-caliber handgun and ammunition were found at the scene.

"They were heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing on Wednesday. "When they put on the uniform and the badge every day, they are putting their lives on the line, and they made the ultimate sacrifice. We pray for them, we pray for their families and others who were injured as a result of this senseless violence."

The president met with the group that included elected officials at the airport, taking a short motorcade over to a nearby building instead of traveling into the city, an option meant to be the least taxing for local law enforcement still reeling from the deaths but who would have a hand in securing the president's trip. 

Biden was seeking to be an empathetic leader for a community reeling from gun violence, while also calling for stricter rules around firearms and more money for law enforcement on the front lines.

The visit comes just one week after the president visited with the grieving families of two police officers who were killed in upstate New York: Lieutenant Michael Hoosock and Officer Michael Jensen, who were killed while looking for a driver who fled a traffic stop. After a speech in Syracuse celebrating a $6.1 billion federal investment for Micron to bolster semiconductor production in Central New York, Biden met with relatives of both of the officers’ families.

In Wilmington, Biden is set to announce that his administration is providing an additional $3 billion in federal funding to replace lead pipes, on top of the $5.8 billion already allocated for water infrastructure projects nationwide, but the president will first pay his respects to the families of the slain officers in Charlotte.