Standoff ends with three police dead as shooters open fire in North Carolina

The suburban street where an officer-involved shooting took place in Charlotte on Monday (Nell Redmond/AP)

Three officers on a US Marshals task force serving a warrant for a person wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout on Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.

The US Marshals had attended an address in suburban Charlotte to arrest a wanted person on charges of possessing a firearm. However, the first shots were fired at authorities when they approached the home.