High Point officer injured arresting armed man on East Green Drive

A neighborhood argument on East Green Drive escalated in seconds into an armed arrest that left one High Point officer hurt and a 31-year-old man facing felony charges.

High Point police said officers were called around 7:30 p.m. after someone reported a verbal altercation involving Travis Watson. Before police arrived, Watson was seen walking toward a neighborhood in the East Green Drive and Smith Street area, a stretch that sits in an active part of the city and carries High Point Transit Route 18.

Police said the encounter turned dangerous when officers tried to detain Watson and he resisted arrest. During the struggle, officers said he reached for a gun in his pocket, forcing them to use force to get him under control. Authorities also said Watson had been armed with both a gun and a hatchet.

Watson was taken to the hospital for treatment and later released. One officer was treated for minor injuries. Police charged Watson with felony carrying a gun, assault on a government official and resisting a public officer, and he was held at the Guilford County Jail.

The case is a stark example of how a call that begins as an argument can become an officer-safety emergency when weapons enter the picture. It also shows the split-second decisions patrol officers face in residential areas where bystanders may be nearby and a confrontation can spill into the street before backup fully arrives.

East Green Drive has been part of prior police activity as well. On June 16, 2025, officers responded to a shooting call at 1105 E Green Dr, and one person was taken to the hospital. For residents, that kind of location detail matters: it ties police response to a real corridor people drive, ride and live along every day, not an isolated corner of the city.

The arrest also fits into a wider picture of public safety in High Point. In a city annual report released Feb. 16, 2026, police said overall crime fell 9% in 2025, gun crime also declined, violent crime rose 6% and property crime dropped 21%. The department has also pointed residents to its crime map, incident-report system and Real Time Crime Center as tools for tracking and responding to critical calls across the city.