A 42-year-old Dallas woman faces allegations in connection with an alleged firearm purchase tied to the April 2024 killing of four law enforcement officers at a home on Galway Drive in northeast Charlotte. Natasha Gibbs faces allegations involving false statements during a firearm purchase and illegal firearm transfers.
The allegations involve false statements during a firearm purchase and illegal firearm transfers.
Hughes carried a 15-year criminal history in North Carolina totaling 49 criminal charges, including a 2010 felony conviction in Person County, according to MEAWW News. He was wanted on April 29, 2024, for felony firearm possession and fleeing to elude police. A high-speed chase occurred in Alamance County in June 2012; separately, he faced a January 6 fleeing-to-elude charge in Lincoln County. A U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force located Hughes in Charlotte while pursuing that federal warrant, and he opened fire during the ensuing standoff at a home on Galway Drive in northeast Charlotte.
A Rifle Fired More Than 100 Rounds
MEAWW News reported that Hughes fired at least 100 bullets during the ambush. WSOC-TV reported that he used the Radical Arms RF-15 rifle from second-story windows of the Galway Drive home. Police ultimately killed Hughes on the property. His girlfriend and her daughter were inside the home and were interviewed; there was no evidence they fired a gun.
The shootout claimed the lives of four law enforcement officers and left four more wounded, marking the deadliest attack on law enforcement in Charlotte's history. Those killed were Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer, Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks Jr., and North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Officers Samuel Poloche and William “Alden” Elliott. In August 2024, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather issued a 26-page report. No charges would be filed against officers who fired, and CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings described the threat as imminent and deadly.
Expected Federal Court Appearance
Queen City News reported that Gibbs is expected to appear in federal court later this week.
Queen City News reports the federal charges Gibbs faces carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A Broader Pattern of Illegal Gun Transfers
Nationally, more than 30,000 attempted straw purchases of firearms occur at licensed gun dealers across the United States each year, according to estimates from the Giffords Law Center. Such purchases happen when a buyer misrepresents their status as the actual transferee on ATF Form 4473, obscuring the true recipient of the weapon.
Gun violence aimed at Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers has continued in the years since the Galway Drive ambush. In September 2026, a CMPD officer was shot in the shoulder on Enderly Road during a struggle over a firearm, an incident that led to two brothers facing 190 combined charges.
