Mooresville to switch armored vehicle vendor after multi‑year delays, cites Langtree shooting

Mooresville officials told the town board they will cancel a long‑delayed contract with LENCO and instead pursue an armored/rescue vehicle from Sentinel, citing repeated vendor delays and recent public‑safety incidents as the principal reasons.

The change was presented as a staff decision to address what officials described as an urgent operational need. The chief said the town originally ordered a vehicle that never arrived after contract delays and that relying on county resources has imposed response delays. "We ordered 1, and a 4 year delay to replace," the chief said, and reported the town had been repeatedly bumped by vendors filling large federal contracts. "So we're gonna cancel with LENCO and we're gonna go with Sentinel," the chief said.

Board members cited the Langtree shooting, where officers were fired on and one officer was hospitalized, as part of the rationale for acquiring a purpose‑built vehicle to increase officer safety and reduce reliance on improvised solutions such as staging a fire truck. The mayor said the vehicle would be a regional asset the town could share with nearby jurisdictions.

When commissioners asked whether the new vendor could meet delivery expectations, staff pointed to other North Carolina towns already using the company's vehicles. "Statesville, Cornelius has 1 from this company... theyare mass producing these," a staff member said, adding that the vendor told the town that once the contract is signed the unit typically arrives within roughly 30 to 120 days.

The discussion did not record a formal board vote to allocate funds or award a contract; officials described the action as canceling the prior engagement with LENCO and proceeding with an alternative provider. The chief said the vehicle is a high‑value asset and emphasized the need to balance cost with officer safety; the transcript referenced a $1,520,000 cost for a comparable fire apparatus used as context for why a purpose‑built vehicle is preferable.

Next steps: staff said they will proceed with procurement steps and negotiate terms with the alternate vendor. No formal contract award or appropriation vote was recorded in the open session.