MURFREESBORO – The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation continues to investigate the fatal shooting of Sammie Britt.

According to Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan, the SBI has not contacted his office concerning the investigation. He said the SBI will contact the District Attorney’s office once they complete their investigation.

On Saturday, March 18, Murfreesboro police officer Larry Newsome and Hertford County Sheriff’s deputy Jessie Fennell were forced to shoot and kill 45-year old Britt after several failed attempts to place the Murfreesboro man under arrest. Britt charged at the officers with a knife at which time Newsome and Fennell combined to fire four shots.

In response to the shooting, Murfreesboro Police Chief Darrell Rowe and Vaughan turned the investigation over to the SBI and the two lawmen involved in the shooting are on administration leave with pay until the SBI concludes the investigation.

According to Bill Taylor of the medical examiner’s office in Greenville, the official autopsy of Britt has not been completed, but Taylor was able to give a cause of death.

“Britt died of blood loss due to a gunshot wound to the chest and leg, but the official report will take at least a couple of more months to be completed,” Taylor said.

According to Taylor, there are a large number of cases ahead of Britt’s case and the medical examiners are waiting on toxicology and tissue reports to complete the official autopsy.