Police in North Carolina said they charged three people Sunday in the deadly shooting of an off-duty officer who was trying to stop a group of people stealing beer.

Greensboro Police said they arrested Jamere Justice Foster and Z’quriah Le’Pearce Blackwell, both 18, and John Walter Morrison, 28, for their alleged roles in the death of Sgt. Philip Dale Nix on Saturday.

Authorities said Mr. Foster was charged with first-degree murder, while Ms. Blackwell and Mr. Morrison were charged with accessory to murder.

Mr. Foster and Mr. Morrison also were charged with larceny.

“Sergeant Philip Dale Nix, who served the city faithfully for 23 years, was a loving husband, father, son, and brother,” the department said in a release.

Arrest warrants obtained by Winston-Salem NBC affiliate WXII-TV said the trio were trying to steal cases of beer that they could resell for drug money. The warrants said the suspects stole about $84 worth of alcohol.

Greensboro Police Chief John Thompson on Saturday didn’t discuss the interaction Sgt. Nix had with the suspects before being fatally shot around 4 p.m. Saturday outside a Sheetz convenience store.

The chief said another off-duty officer and a paramedic were on the scene when Sgt. Nix was mortally wounded.

Both helped render aid to the victim, but he later died at a hospital.

“Words are inadequate right now,” Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said Saturday during a press conference. “There’s really nothing I can say that’s going to give the family or the officers any comfort. What happened today was a senseless act of violence.”

Mr. Foster and Mr. Morrison are being held without bond. Ms. Blackwell is being held on a $500,000 bond.

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