Michael Puckett Arrested in Mount Airy After Logan Utt Killing Camera
Michael Puckett was arrested in Mount Airy on Sunday after a camera-equipped drone helped agents spot him during a days-long manhunt tied to the killing of Deputy Logan Utt in Virginia. He was taken into custody while ringing the doorbell of another home, ending the immediate search but not the court process that now follows.
Logan Utt on Fancy Gap Highway
The search began after deputies went to a home on Fancy Gap Highway about 20 miles outside Mount Airy for a welfare check on Friday night. Authorities said Puckett made contact with deputies there, fired at them, hit both, and killed Utt.
One deputy survived the shooting, but the condition of that deputy has not been released. Puckett fled the scene after the shooting, which turned the case from a single local call into a regional manhunt.
Drone spot in Mount Airy
The Mount Airy Police Department assisted in the search, along with North Carolina SBI agents. On Sunday, agents spotted Puckett with a drone as he was going door-to-door in Mount Airy.
They arrested him as he was ringing the doorbell of another home. He was taken to the Surry County Detention Center in Dobson without bond, which means the case now shifts from search operations to detention and court handling.
Carroll County search response
The Carroll County Sheriff's Office thanked local law enforcement agencies for helping locate him. Puckett is expected to appear in court on Monday, and that appearance will be the first public step after the arrest that ended the manhunt.
For residents near Mount Airy and in Carroll County, the urgent change is simple: the suspect is no longer being hunted, and the next phase is now a courtroom matter rather than a search on local roads and doorsteps.
