Man sought in deputy’s death caught in N.C.

Staff Report

The Cana man sought this weekend for shooting two Carroll County deputies – one fatally – has been captured in North Carolina.

Michael Timothy Puckett, 55 was apprehended late Sunday night in Surry County, N.C. near Mt. Airy.

The arrest culminated an intense multi-law enforcement agency manhunt following following the shooting incident Friday night in Cana.

Carroll County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded that night to a welfare check at Puckett’s home on Fancy Gap Highway at approximately 9:30 p.m. When they arrived and made contact, authorities said Puckett opened fire shooting both deputies, killing one and injuring the second. He then fled the scene.

The FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives joined a number of regional law enforcement agencies in a subsequent manhunt. The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information on Puckett’s whereabouts, and the Marshals offered $10,000.

Early Sunday afternoon it was reported on social media by the Wytheville Police Department that Puckett had been photographed by a trail camera early Sunday morning just north of Mt. Airy. Police had asked area residents to review their home and business surveillance camera systems and trail cam footage to help establish a trail of Puckett’s movements.

Deputy Logan Utt, 31 died from injuries sustained in the shooting.  A second depty was hit by gunfire which struck his ballistic vest. He is reported to be in stable condition.

Utt is survived by his wife and two children and had been with the sheriff’s office since 2023.