North Carolina officer charged after viral video of woman being punched

Karson Hyder, a 22-year-old Shelby police officer, was fired after an internal investigation and later charged in connection with a viral video that showed him punching a woman during an arrest. He turned himself in Monday morning, June 1, 2026, at the Cleveland County Detention Center and was released on a $10,000 secured bond.

The charge is one count of assault inflicting serious injury, a North Carolina offense classified as a Class F felony. That makes the case far more serious than a viral-publicity dispute: it now moves through both the criminal system and the police department’s disciplinary process, with the State Bureau of Investigation set to review the findings and forward them to the Cleveland County district attorney once its work is complete.

The woman in the video has been identified in coverage as Cherrie Moore. According to the account tied to the arrest, the footage was captured on a Ring camera and shared publicly. It reportedly showed Hyder taking Moore to the ground and striking her repeatedly, while another officer could be heard telling him to stop.

Moore was first charged with breaking or entering, resisting a public officer and assault on a government official. Those charges were later dismissed after Hyder was charged, though she still faces a breaking and entering charge. The shifting charges underscored how quickly the case moved from a routine arrest to a wider question about police conduct, evidence review and prosecutorial judgment.

Shelby Police Chief Brad Fraser described the incident as disturbing, inappropriate and unacceptable. Shelby residents raised concerns at a City Council meeting, demanded greater accountability and called for Hyder to be stripped of any certifications that could allow him to work for another government agency. Protests also broke out outside police headquarters.

For Buncombe County readers, the case carries a familiar regional warning: when a use-of-force video circulates, the public sees only the image, but accountability depends on what happens next inside the department, in the state probe and in the district attorney’s office. In Shelby, a city of about 22,000 in Cleveland County, population 103,325, that chain of decisions is now under the same scrutiny as the footage itself.