The Avery County Sheriff’s office is reporting, a fight Saturday night over a deer led to a deadly shooting.
Deputies said it started when neighbors, one of whom is a detention officer, got into a fight on Teaster Valley Lane in the Banner Elk area.
Investigators said that officer, Brendan Smith, is accused of shooting and killing his neighbor, Mike Houser.
No one is charged at this point, but the State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting because the officer works for the sheriff’s office.
Witnesses said Smith, who lives directly across the Elk River, was bow hunting Saturday evening. They said one of his arrows struck a deer that then crossed the river and collapsed in the field in front of Houser’s home.
Witnesses said that’s where the two men got into some sort of argument, which Houser’s girlfriend says was heated.
Deputies said Smith, who was off duty at the time, remained at the scene. He’s now on administrative leave while the SBI investigates.
