10/16/09
Greensboro, North Carolina
From DigiTriad.com of October 14, 2009
911 Calls Reveal Details Of Break-In Suspect Shot By Homeowner
Greensboro police say an 80-year-old man is not facing charges after he shot and killed a break-in suspect early Wednesday morning.
Charles Haithcock called 911 immediately following the shooting of 19-year-old Michael L. Medley who he says broke into his home.
Haithcock: "A man broke in on me and pulled a gun. i shot him and he's laying out in the yard."
911 Operator: "Is he breathing?"
Haithcock: "I don't know. he broke in the window. He pulled the air conditioning out in the living room. And I heard something and he come back to the bedroom. I was in the bed. And I opened the door and he had pulled, what looked like a shotgun, he was pointing it at me."
Police responded to the home on Walnut Street Wednesday morning, which is near Summit Avenue.
When officers arrived, they found Medley, Jr. dead from a gunshot wound.
"The guy ran into the back room, locked his door and shot through the bedroom door and killed him," said Haithcock's neighbor, who did not want to be identified.
At this time, Haithcock is not facing criminal charges. However, police say the shooting incident remains under investigation.
WFMY News 2 has learned that Medley has a criminal record, which includes a conviction for Common Law Robbery.
The apartment where the 80-year-old lives is located near the Greensboro Police Department's Eastern Division precinct.
"The police department is sitting right here, and they still kicked in this door and stole a car from in front of the house," said Haithcock's neighbor. "I would think this was the safest place to be."
Stay with digtriad.com and WFMY News 2 for more updates.
Labels: home invasion, NC, senior
10/3/09
Halifax, North Carolina
From WRAL of October 2, 2009
Sheriff: Revenge likely motive for fatal home invasion
A New Jersey man who was shot and killed during a home invasion in Halifax Friday morning was likely seeking revenge for a two decade-old domestic dispute, according to Halifax County Sheriff Jeff Frazier.
The investigation is ongoing into details of the 1988 dispute between Marcel Alston, of Halifax, and Carlton L. Burgess, 61, of Lumberton, N.J. Frazier said.
"It's baffling right now. We've got a lot of loose ends that we've got to try to tie up," said Lt. Bobby Martin, with the Halifax County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators said that a knock woke up Alston around 7 a.m. at his house at 5524 U.S. Highway 301, where he lives alone. When Alston opened the door, Burgess, who had a gun, began assaulting Alston.
Alston got away and was climbing up the stairs when Burgess fired, striking his victim in the buttocks, investigators said. Alston managed to get to his bedroom and got out a gun he kept there.
Burgess followed Alston into the bedroom, and Alston fatally shot him in the upper torso, according to investigators.
According to a 911 call, Alston went to a neighbor's for help after the shootings.
In addition to a gunshot wound, Alston suffered a gash on the head. He was undergoing surgery at Halifax Regional Hospital Friday afternoon. His condition was stable, Frazier said.
Alston acknowledged his acquaintance with Burgess and said they hadn't seen each other in several years.
Deputies were examining a white van with New Jersey license plate parked in front of Alston's house that Burgess might have driven. Investigators were also searching a room at the Days Inn in Weldon where Burgess had checked in Wednesday.
Frazier said the killing appeared to be a case of self-defense. The Halifax County District Attorney's Office has to decide whether charges will be filed.
Neighbors said they were stunned this happened to Alston, who has been their friend for years.
"It shocked me," neighbor Leroy Lynch said. "I'm really sad. He's a real nice man."
Labels: defender shot, domestic dispute, NC
9/27/09
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of September 25, 2009
Homeowner opens fire at break-in suspect
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say a man in the University area spotted someone in his garage early Friday morning and opened fire at the suspect.
According to The Observer's news partner WCNC, the homeowner on Glen Luce Avenue heard a noise around 3:30 a.m.
When the man found the suspect in the garage, police said he shot at the intruder. Investigators found blood outside, but have not located the suspect.
Labels: NC, trespassing
9/8/09
Charlotte, North Carolina
From WBT of September 7, 2009
Cab driver strikes back, kills would-be robber
A deadly showdown played out late Sunday in the front seat of a taxi.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said a would-be robber, identified as 17-year-old Renaldo Smith, was shot dead by his would-be victim - a cab driver who was called to an apartment complex near Carowinds.
Police said as the cab left the Colonial Village apartments off John Price Road in southwest Mecklenburg, Smith pulled a gun on the driver.
Within seconds, the driver drew his gun and shot Smith, who was dead by the time police arrived.
Police did not immediately identify the cab driver. The cab belonged to Professional Cabs of Charlotte. An employee of the company told WBT NEWS this morning he did not know the driver's identity.
The District Attorney's office must now decide whether to pursue charges against the driver. It's legal under North Carolina law to shoot and kill someone in self-defense.
Arrest records show one previous arrest for Smith - a felony breaking and entering charge from Septemer 2008.
Labels: carjacking, NC
9/2/09
Hillsborough, North Carolina
From the News Observer of September 2, 2009
Man fired to defend himself, police say
Police do not expect to charge a 65-year-old Faucette Mill Road homeowner who shot an intruder Friday night.
"At this point we believe he was acting in self-defense," Lt. Davis Trimmer of the Hillsborough Police Department said Tuesday. "He was alone in his house. He came out and found three men in his living room."
The case will be reviewed by the district attorney's office, Trimmer said.
Christopher Jerome Williams, 19, of 626 Wildaro Court in Hillsborough, was shot in the chest at 11:34 p.m. He is doing well after surgery, Trimmer said.
Police charged Williams and Audricus Southerland, 18, of 316 Lakeshore Drive in Hillsborough, with first-degree burglary. They were found a few minutes after the incident at a relative's home, less than a mile away.
Police arrested two more suspects Monday night. Brandon Borden, 20, of 548 Homemont Ave., and Artimus Stewart, 20, of 179 Torain St., were charged with first-degree burglary. They and Southerland were being held at the Orange County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, Trimmer said.
Police are not releasing the name of the homeowner. He told police he heard the door to his residence being forced open. He got a pistol and found three people standing in his living room. He fired one shot, hitting Williams. After the shooting, he saw four men running from his home.
North Carolina law recognizes people's right to defend themselves, others or their homes.
In cases of defending one's home, the law allows the use of deadly force against an intruder to prevent entry and to terminate unlawful entry if a person thinks doing so will prevent death, injury or the commission of a felony.
"I think they are more difficult cases to prosecute," said John Rubin, professor of public law and government at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government who has written a book "The law of self-defense in North Carolina." "The law provides a lot of protection to the homeowner," he said.
Labels: home invasion, NC
Charlotte, North Carolina
From WRAL of August 26, 2009
NC man, 76, shoots youth, 15, after home invasion
Police are unraveling a home invasion and burglary that began at an elderly couple's home and ended with a 15-year-old suspect shot to death on a nearby street.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said robbery and homicide investigative units are working to sort out the Saturday incident that began when four young men pushed into the upscale brick home that C.L. McClure, 76, shares with his wife in northeast Charlotte's Newell community.
"I'm not in any condition to talk" about the incident, McClure, a retired building fireproofer, told The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday.
Police said four teens entered McClure's home Saturday. McClure was bound with duct tape and his wife held at gunpoint. The robbers left with some jewelry and a wallet.
McClure's son, Larry, who lives next door, said his father broke free and after checking that his wife was OK guessed at the robbers' route out of his neighborhood. C.L. McClure grabbed a pistol, got into his dark green van and pursued the crooks, Larry McClure said.
"He thought they might have been driving, and he wanted to get a tag number," Larry McClure said.
Larry McClure said his father told him he was in his van when he saw one of the suspected robbers and thought he was armed. C.L. McClure fired his pistol when the teen turned toward him, his son said.
Marcus Fluker, 15, died later at Carolinas Medical Center. Police said they didn't recover a gun from near his body.
Officers took C.L. McClure to headquarters for questioning but released him without charges.
Police charged the other three teens with robbery and burglary. Police identified them as Joseph Graves, 17, Matthew Everett Morgan, 17, and Tahjaue Wiley, 18.
Police said they want to prevent any possible retribution against McClure and have assigned an officer to keep an eye on the residence.
"I think there's a concern. They just want to be extra careful. It's extra upsetting to have a 15-year-old shot and killed," said Capt. Mike Smathers, who command's the department's robbery unit. "I don't care who you are; that's terrible. They're just trying to make sure peace is maintained."
Labels: home invasion, minor offender, NC, residence robbery, senior
8/25/09
Tabor City, North Carolina
From the August 24, 2009 Winston-Salem Journal:
TABOR CITY -- A sheriff says that North Carolina's longest-serving legislator has shot an intruder at his Tabor City home.
Columbus County Sheriff Chris Batten said that state Sen. R.C. Soles, 74, shot one of two people who kicked in the front door yesterday.
Batten said that the intruder was taken to a hospital, though he did not know the extent of his injuries.
Labels: home invasion, NC
8/13/09
Durham, North Carolina
From WRAL of August 9, 2009
Duke student shot during struggle with would-be robber
A Duke student struggled with a man who tried to rob him, resulting in gunfire that wounded him and possibly the would-be robber, Durham police said.
The student and a woman were walking in the 500 block of Watts Street shortly before midnight Saturday when a man armed with a gun approached them from behind, police said. He ordered the pair to put their hands on their heads and started to search them.
A struggle ensued over the gun, and two shots were fired, police said. The student was shot in the abdomen, and the attempted robber fled.
"I was pretty sure that it was shots, not firecrackers. ... It was like right here, and the woman, she was screaming her guts out,” said Anita Akella, a Duke graduate student who lives nearby.
The victim, whose identity hasn't been released, was treated at a nearby hospital. The woman was uninjured.
The gunman was limping when he fled and might have been shot, police said. He was described as black, approximately 40 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a stocky build. He has bulging eyes. He wore a gray shirt and dark jeans.
The shooting happened one block from Duke's East Campus, where first-year students are to move in next week.
Graduate student Melanie Oberman said the shooting happened outside the apartment she recently rented.
"I definitely don't feel comfortable living in the house until I have security put in," she said. "I had no idea that something could happen right outside my door like that."
Residents said Trinity Park neighborhood has long been a safe area.
“It makes me very sad, more than it does fearful," homeowner Sally Spears said. "But the world we live in now has turned into the situation that it is."
Anyone with any information about the shooting should call Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases, and callers never have to identify themselves.
Labels: defender shot, defender's gun taken away and used against him, NC, street robbery, student defender
7/7/09
Jacksonville, North Carolina
From the Jacksonville Daily News of July 7, 2009
No charges filed against Sneads Ferry man who shot intruder
A Sneads Ferry man who shot a teenager charged with trying to break into the man's home Monday will not be charged, authorities said.
Landon Crews, of Crows Nest Lane, shot 18-year-old Cyle Norris early Monday morning. Detectives with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department said Norris was trying to crawl through a broken window when Crews shot him in the right forearm with No. 7 shot from a 12-gauge shotgun.
Norris and three other local men were charged with first-degree burglary, possession of burglary tools and conspiracy.
North Carolina state law says that Crews was within his rights to shoot an intruder breaking into his home. General Statute 14-51.1 states, "A lawful occupant within a home or other place of residence is justified in using any degree of force that the occupant reasonably believes is necessary, including deadly force, against an intruder to prevent a forcible entry into the home or residence or to terminate the intruder's unlawful entry if the occupant reasonably apprehends that the intruder may kill or inflict serious bodily harm to the occupant or others in the home or residence, or if the occupant reasonably believes that the intruder intends to commit a felony in the home or residence."
The law also states that a lawful occupant has no duty to retreat from an intruder.
"The long and the short of it is he didn't break the law," Sheriff Ed Brown said.
Attempts by The Daily News to reach Crews were unsuccessful.
Authorities said Norris, Trevor Sturgis, 21, and David Sonye, 21, tried to break into Crews' house after Joseph Michael Greene III, 16, who is also accused of attempting to break in, was forcefully put out of the home 20 minutes prior.
The four men tried to break down the front door, break out windows and climb through, authorities said.
Crews - who was at home with his mother - told investigators that he warned them several times before shooting. The four accused intruders were given a bond of $50,000 each.
The Sheriff's Department is seeking to talk with James Austin Boone, who authorities believe was at the residence around the time of the shooting.
Anyone with information concerning Boone's whereabouts can contact the Jacksonville/Onslow Crime Stoppers at 910-938-3273 or Sheriff's Sgt. David South at 910-455-3113. Callers do not have to reveal their identities.
Labels: home invasion, NC
6/29/09
Lumberton, North Carolina
From the Fayetteville Observer of June 29, 2009
Business owner shoots intruder
A store owner shot and wounded a man who broke into his business on West Fifth Street Monday morning, police said.
The names of the men involved were not available.
The shooting was reported between 3 and 4 a.m. at The Auction House, said Lt. Johnny Barnes of the Lumberton Police Department.
The man who broke in threatened the store owner with a tire iron, Barnes said. The owner then shot the man in the leg, Barnes said.
The wounded man was taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center, Barnes said.
The wounded man will be charged with breaking and entering, Barnes said.
The district attorney will decide if any charges should be filed against the business owner, Barnes said.
Burlington, North Carolina
From the Burlington Times News of June 29, 2009
Homeowner wounds would-be burgler
A homeowner fired a shotgun after two people broke into his home on N.C. 54 early Monday and hit one of the suspects in the arm.
The gun scared the two men away, and one of them, 36-year-old Randy Stewart, of Morningside Drive, Burlington, showed up at Alamance Regional Medical later, according to an Alamance County Sheriff's Department news release.
He was taken to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill for further treatment. His medical condition wasn't immediately known.
The sheriff's department obtained a warrant charging Stewart with first-degree burglary, but it still hasn't been served. The second suspect remains at large and deputies continue to search for him.
The incident happened at about 12:30 a.m. Monday at a home on N.C. 54. The home owner, John Davis, told authorities that sometime after midnight he and his girlfriend were awakened by the dog barking. They heard noises outside the door of the home.
When Davis got out of bed to investigate, the two suspects allegedly shattered the door and entered the house.
"The victim was then confronted by the suspects as they proceeded through the kitchen of the residence," the release states. "At that point, Mr. Davis had armed himself with a shotgun. As the suspects advanced toward him, he fired the weapon."
Both suspects left the home. The investigation is ongoing. The sheriff's department plans to confer with the District Attorney's office, but it is unlikely that Davis will be charged.
Labels: home invasion, NC
6/25/09
Wagram, North Carolina
From the Laurinburg Exchange of June 20, 2009
One dead after botched home invasion
Deputies say at least one gunman was killed in an early-morning home invasion near Wagram.
Anthony Martin, of Kale Street in Wagram, was shot to death in the failed robbery attempt while two others masked men fled, according to Shep Jones. The sheriff's department did not have Martin's age.
Investigators say one of the robbers was 40-year old William Anthony Strickland, according to Jones. The last-known address for Strickland is 9539 Springview Road in Charlotte. Jones would not say how Strickland was identified as a suspect.
Warrants were obtained for Stricklands arrest on charges of robbery, burglary and felony assault.
Investigators have not released information on the third suspect.
Jones said the trio entered the home of 62-year Edmond Cooper at 23296 Wagram Street at about 12:30 a.m. through the back door, which had been left unlocked.
Debbie Cooper, Edmond's wife, was still up and a suspect knocked her out by striking her over the head. The men then entered the room of the Coopers' 15-year old son. The suspects used ziploc ties to restrain the juvenile. The three men then entered the hallway of the residence, according to Jones.
"Edmond Cooper came out of the bedroom with a gun," Jones said. "He fired several shots, hitting one of the suspects."
He said the two suspects left standing returned fire, while fleeing from the residence.
"Mr. Cooper was shot in the hand," Jones said.
Martin was dead when emergency personnel arrived on the scene, according to Jones. Edmond Cooper was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
Jones said the two suspects may have fled with $1,000 from the residence.
"It shows the times we're living in when families are at home, where they are supposed to be safe, and they are violated," Jones said.
Wagram police have assisted the sheriff's department in this case.
If you know the whereabouts of William Anthony Strickland or have information on the third suspect, contact the Scotland County Sheriff's Department at 276-3385 or anonymously report your tip to Scotland Crime Stoppers at 291-3333.
Labels: assault, home invasion, NC
6/11/09
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
From the Rocky Mount Telegram of June 2, 2009
Robbery attempts foiled: Victims break free, chase suspects in separate incidents
Spencer Cockrell told authorities he cut himself loose and grabbed his gun late Monday night after he and his wife were tied down at their Nash County home and robbed at gunpoint by two Rocky Mount men, later identified as Jesus Pryor and Justin L. Shaw.
Deputies said Cockrell freed himself as Pryor, 27, and Shaw, 22, fled the scene. Cockrell chased after them with a gun, officials said. Cockrell told authorities he found Pryor outside the home, attempting to cut the phone line.
Pryor allegedly raised his gun, deputies said, and Cockrell fired shots at the suspect, striking him in the arm and buttocks.
Pryor ran and later was found bleeding in the back of a pickup truck on Old Carriage Road, near the alleged crime scene. He was taken to Nash General Hospital then airlifted to Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where he remained in stable condition Tuesday.
Authorities were continuing to search for Shaw on Tuesday.
Arrion T. Dickens, a suspected getaway driver in the burglary, was found in Rocky Mount early Tuesday and arrested, authorities said. Dickens, 26, was charged with first-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree kidnapping. Similar charges will be filed against Pryor once he’s released from the hospital, deputies said.
No charges will be filed against Cockrell, deputies said.
Labels: home invasion, NC
6/10/09
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
From the News-Record of June 10, 2009
Winston-Salem resident shoots intruder
A resident shot and wounded one of four men who forced themselves into his apartment Tuesday night, police said.
About 10:18 p.m., Joseph Tyler Cox, of 5039 Winster Dr., Apt. 203, responded to a knock on the door, according to Winston-Salem police.
Four men dressed in dark clothes with their faces concealed forced themselves inside. One was armed with a knife.
Cox retrieved a handgun and began to fire at the suspects, police said.
Quenton Alphonzo Taylor, 18, of 5489 Country Side Drive, Apt. F, was struck by several rounds, according to police.
Cox also shot himself in the hand and was stabbed several times in the back.
The three other suspects fled on foot, leaving Taylor behind, police said.
Cox and Taylor were taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where they were treated for their injuries.
Charges are pending for Taylor, police said.
Labels: defender shot, home invasion, NC
4/22/09
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of April 22, 2009
Home invasion ... kids, adults not hurt
Police are looking for three suspects wanted in connection with a home invasion overnight in northwest Charlotte.
The incident ended with the homeowner firing shots at the fleeing attackers.
It started about 11 p.m. at a residence in the 2700 block of Kendrick Drive, in the Coulwood area.
Police say three men kicked in the front door of the home, where three adults and two children were living. The attackers took money and fled.
While they were fleeing, police say, one of the adult residents fired shots at them. It is not known if the suspects were hit by the gunfire.
The getaway vehicle was described as a white Ford Contour or a Ford Taurus.
The suspects were described as short and thin black males, who covered their faces with shirts.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact Crime Stoppers, 704-334-1600.
Labels: home invasion, NC
3/7/09
Hickory, North Carolina
From WSOC of March 6, 2009
Hickory Shooting May Have Been Self-Defense
Police in Hickory are trying to figure out if a shooting early Friday morning was a case of self-defense.
That shooting happened at a home on Fifth Avenue Southwest around 4:30 a.m.
Police said Terry Lee Atkins was shot in the chest and then went to two homes nearby looking for help. Investigators believe Atkins may have gone to a home with a .12-gauge shotgun to rob the people inside, but was instead met with gunfire. The homeowners said they had no choice.
Investigators recovered a shotgun dropped in a nearby yard.
Police said Atkins underwent surgery Friday afternoon.
Officers interviewed 12 people in the case. They plan on turning the evidence over to the district attorney's office to determine whether charges should be filed.
Labels: NC, residence robbery
2/19/09
Sampson County, North Carolina
From the February 13, 2009 Dunn (N.C.) Daily Record:
A Fayetteville man's plan to rob a Sampson County man's home went awry Tuesday when he got a surprise - an unexpected meeting with the home's owner, complete with a .22-caliber rifle.
According to the Sampson County Sheriff's Office and the homeowners, Richard Corderro Woods, 21, of Asbury Road in Fayetteville was arrested Tuesday morning after Bryan Tew came home and allegedly saw Mr. Woods coming out the back door of his home in the 600 block of Eldon Store Road in the Mingo community.
Mr. Tew, a local turkey farmer, said he was driving his tractor down the road to fill it with fuel around 11:30 when he noticed an unfamiliar Buick Roadmaster with a burgundy top parked in his garage with the trunk open.
He said he parked his John Deere in front of the car, jumped down and was reaching behind the seat of his pickup truck for his rifle when he heard Mr. Woods kick open the back door, heard broken glass and saw him step outside with an armload of electronics, Wii games and a jar of change.
"You ever see those cartoons where their eyes get big as saucers? That's what he looked like," Mr. Tew said. "I yelled at him and when he saw that gun, he sat the stuff down on the freezer near the back door turned around and ran back into the house."
Mr. Tew said he chased Mr. Woods and caught up with him when Mr. Woods slipped on the linoleum near the front door of the home.
"I told him to stay down and put his hands out," Mr. Tew said. "He was saying he was sorry. He said he'd pay for the glass in the door if I'd just let him go. He said he had to go to the bathroom.
"You know, a friend of mine said your body only produces about a teaspoon of adrenaline in a lifetime," he said. "Well, I think I used my whole teaspoon."
Mr. Tew said since the incident he has wondered time and again what he would have done if Mr. Woods had had a gun.
"I told the deputies, "The thing is my rifle wasn't loaded,' " Mr. Tew said. "They laughed and said, "Hey, that's all right. He didn't know that.' "
Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said as it turns out, Mr. Tew had apprehended a suspect his office had been looking for since the middle of January in connection with several break-ins in the area.
"We didn't know who he was, but we were looking for the automobile," he said. "Every time the automobile was spotted in that end of the county, he was gone by the time we got there.
Labels: NC, residence burglary
1/28/09
Wilmington, North Carolina
From the Star News of January 19, 2009
Store clerk pistol whips would-be robber
A 51-year-old man who police say was pistol-whipped by a convenience store owner Monday night is in the New Hanover County jail, officials said Tuesday. Donald Leroy Frazier of Wilmington is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, according to a statement from Officer Crystal Williamson of the Wilmington Police Department. Officers responded to the Chestnut Food Market at 10:50 p.m. and found Frazier lying on his back in front of the business, bleeding from his face. The store clerk told officers Frazier pulled a knife and pointed it close to the clerk’s chest, according to the police statement. The clerk pulled a pistol and fired a shot but missed. When Frazier refused to leave, the clerk hit him in the face with the handgun, according to the police statement. After the incident, Monday night, Shadie Abdallah, part-owner of the store, said when he was closing for the night, a man who he recognized came in and tried to stab him. The man did not demand money. At the time, police said the suspect was taken to an area hospital. E.B. Davis, who lives near the store, watched as police examined the crime scene and spoke with witnesses. Davis said he has lived in the neighborhood 30 years and he has seen wrecks and shootings in the vicinity of the store. He described it as a corner hangout. Children going to a nearby school pass by the corner and Davis said that concerns him. He said police should do something to clean up the corner. Frazier is being held on a $500 bond.
1/18/09
Fayetteville, North Carolina
From the Fayetteville Observer of January 19, 2009
Intruder fatally shot during struggle with resident
A Tokay Drive resident fatally shot a man who broke into his house Saturday night, police said Sunday.
The names of the resident and the victim were not immediately available.
The incident happened about 8:30 p.m. at 593 Tokay Drive, according to a Fayetteville police news release.
The resident entered his house and found the intruder inside, the release said.
The resident pulled out a pistol he was carrying and began struggling with the intruder, the release said.
The gun fired during the struggle, and the intruder ran out of the house, the release said.
It was not known how many shots were fired, a police spokesman said Sunday.
A short time later, a man with a gunshot wound was brought to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
The man, believed to be the intruder, apparently called friends for help instead of dialing 911, the police spokesman said.
“His friends determined that he needed medical assistance and transported him to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center,” the spokesman said.
Labels: home invasion, NC
1/6/09
Dunn, North Carolina
From the Dunn Daily Record of December 26, 2008
Home Owner Surprises Would-Be Thieves
The Harnett County Sheriff's Office is looking for suspects chased off by a homeowner during an attempted break-in south of Dunn.
Meanwhile, deputies are still searching for suspects in an attempted home invasion in the Barbecue community in which a home owner was shot in a struggle with a suspect.
Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said the incident near Dunn happened last Friday, the day after the Barbecue incident.
According to Sheriff Rollins, the incident occurred during the day just south of Dunn at a home on Bud Hawkins Road. Sheriff Rollins did not identify the home's owner.
"The fella was at home, actually, upstairs, and he heard somebody who kept ringing the doorbell," Sheriff Rollins said. "Before he could get downstairs, somebody tried to kick his door in ...
"Of course, by then he had his shotgun," Sheriff Rollins said.
Sheriff Rollins said the suspects fled the scene in a Carolina blue 2000 to 2004 four-door compact car, according to the homeowner.
The suspects were described as two black males in their late 20s. One of the suspects is further described as approximately 6-foot-2 inches tall, of medium build with his hair done in corn rows.
Sheriff Rollins said there have been several break-ins in the rural area south of Dunn in the past few weeks. He said he did not know if the break-ins there are connected to a dozen or more break-ins that have occurred in southeast Dunn over the last two weeks.
**Note**
See barbecue shooting incident here.
Labels: home invasion, NC
12/27/08
Lillington, North Carolina
From December 19, 2008 WRAL:
Lillington, N.C. — Harnett County authorities are investigating a shooting that happened late Thursday night during a home invasion in Lillington.
Sheriff Larry Rollins said Derrick Womack, 31, was at home with his wife and stepson around 10 p.m. when four men entered his home at 232 Tacia Drive and tried to rob them.
Womack said he heard banging on the door and that when he opened it, he saw a man pointing a handgun at him.
Womack said he wrestled the gun away from the man and that in the process the gun went off.
He noticed another man on his porch and two others in his yard and with the gun, started shooting. He also said he believed another assailant had a shotgun and might have shot a third assailant.
Rollins would not say how many guns were involved or how many shots were fired. He said Womack did not have a gun.
Womack, who was shot in the hand, was taken to a hospital, treated and later released.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, defender shot, home invasion, NC
12/9/08
Catawba, North Carolina
From WSOC of December 6, 2008
Store Owner Shoots Suspected Robbers
The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office said a business owner shot and killed a suspected robber, and hurt another one.
Deputies said it happened at 3:15 a.m. Saturday. Randy Willis, owner of Willis Packaging on Highway 10, went to his store because the alarm was going off. When Willis got there, deputies said he saw a man coming out of his store with a shotgun.
Willis and the robber struggled, and deputies said Willis pulled out a pistol and shot the robber, killing him.
Deputies said another robber, 52-year-old Arnold Ray Jr., had broken into the store. Ray jumped Willis, and Willis shot him as well, this time in the shoulder.
Deputies said the two men had broken into the store through the front window. They also said a woman, Jean Holman, dropped the two men off. Holman is charged with breaking and entering and larceny.
The sheriff’s office said Ray was taken to the hospital. Authorities have not released the deceased man’s name. Authorities said Willis hurt several ribs during the altercations, but did not go to the hospital.
Ray is charged with breaking and entering, larceny, robbery and kidnapping.
Willis was not charged. Deputies said the case will be handed over to the district attorney.
Labels: assault, business burglary, NC
11/28/08
Gaston, North Carolina
From the Gaston Gazette of November 24, 2008
Burglar no match for shotgun-toting couple
A would-be burglar who'd been scared off from one house by a 70-year-old woman found himself a few minutes later staring down the wrong end of a shotgun at another, police say.
And before the sun rose Sunday, Joshuah Scott Rutledge probably figured out that this northern Gaston County town wasn't ripe for the picking.
"If they think Stanley is sleepy, they've got another thing coming," said 56-year-old Phyllis Osborne, who now calls her 62-year-old husband Richard her "knight in shining armor."
Rutledge, 26, of Oakboro was reportedly climbing through a bathroom window of a woman's home on the 3500 block of N.C. 27 in Stanley at 4:30 a.m. Sunday when the woman, who'd had her 70th birthday the week before, spotted him and scared him away before he could get inside.
He then apparently went to a house across the street off N.C. 27 on Watts Street, this time making it inside.
But once inside he found himself staring at Richard Osborne and an old shotgun that his wife's grandfather had once used to slaughter hogs. Whether the gun would still fire a shot remains in question.
Rutledge had pulled a bedspread down to cover him as he lay in the floor in a guest bedroom, Phyllis Osborne said.
But the couple could see his knuckles poking out.
"We told him, ‘If you don't come out we're going to blow your brains out,'" Phyllis Osborne said Monday. "We had to say it three times, but then he jumped up and said, ‘I'm in the wrong house. I'm in the wrong house.'"
At first Rutledge insisted he'd come to the house looking for a friend. Then he said he was there to meet the Osborne's daughter, whom he claimed to have met on the Internet.
But the Osborne's only daughter lives in Georgia, married to a law enforcement officer.
"I wasn't scared, I was mad," Richard Osborne said. "I was mad because he scared my wife."
The Osbornes have been married 30-plus years. He has a little trouble hearing, she can hear a squirrel walking across the roof.
When she heard something Sunday morning she knew someone had entered their home. Even after a quick lookaround produced nothing, she said she was sure something wasn't right.
Richard Osborne then saw the bedspread pulled down from the bed. Phyllis Osborne keeps an impeccable house.
"I'm very particular," Phyllis Osborne said. "My bed has to be made. Not a wrinkle in it."
Rutledge answered Mrs. Osborne with "Yes, mam," and "No, mam,'" she said.
Mr. Osborne had to punch him once and hit him twice with the gun. One strike with the gun came when Rutledge insisted on lighting up a cigarette while waiting on police to arrive, he said.
The Osbornes praised Stanley Police officers for their quick response and follow-up investigation.
Arresting Officer J.L. Springs said Rutledge has not told them what he was doing in the area. He apparently was walking because police have not been able to find a vehicle.
The incident shook the Osbornes up. The first woman who encountered Rutledge that night could not be reached for comment, but Springs said she was doing OK.
Mrs. Osborne said Monday that she still wasn't ready to go back inside her home unless her husband was with her.
But she also said she was ready to forgive. She's repeated to herself a common phrase from her pastor, Bishop Robert Gittens, at Revival Tabernacle Church.
‘"Love heals and hatred destroys,'" she said, quoting her pastor.
As of Monday night, Rutledge remained in Gaston County Jail under $100,000 bond facing two charges of first-degree burglary.
Labels: home invasion, NC
11/25/08
Charlotte, North Carolina
From WSOC of November 17, 2008
Burglars Get Into Gunfight With Business Owner
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police searched for two men Monday morning who broke into a business and got into a gunfight with its owner.
Police said the men broke into Big Rob's Sports Bar on Nevin Road in north Charlotte around 3 a.m. Monday. The burglars tripped the burglar alarm, which alerted police and the bar's owner.
The owner went to the bar and saw the men loading electronics into the back of a truck. When the burglars saw the owner, one burglar shot at him. The owner shot back and the burglars got away.
The owner was not hurt. Police did not release a description of the burglars.
Labels: business robbery, NC
10/23/08
Fayetteville, North Carolina
From WRAL of October 23, 2008
Fayetteville police: Resident shot suspect during burglary
Fayetteville police said that a resident shot and wounded a suspect during a home break-in Thursday afternoon.
Two people forced their way into a residence in the 400 block of Acacia Circle around 2:30 p.m., officers said. The victim was at home and heard the burglars as they tried to take several items.
Investigators said that the resident confronted the burglars with a firearm. The resident shot one person in the lower leg and detained him until police arrived.
The second burglar fled the scene by unknown means, police said.
The suspect was transported to Cape Fear Valley Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said they plan to charge him with felony breaking-and-entering and felony larceny. Investigators have not been able to determine the man's identity.
Detectives remained at the crime scene late Thursday afternoon.
Labels: NC, residence burglary
10/7/08
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
From the October 4, 2008 Winston-Salem Journal:
A store clerk and a robber shot at each other during an attempted robbery Thursday night, Winston-Salem police said yesterday.
Police said that the store clerk, Soon Kwon, was outside the Liberty Street Grocery on Old Rural Hall Road about 8:40 p.m. when a man came up and pointed a gun at him. The two went inside, and, as Kwon was walking behind the counter to get money, he pushed the store's alarm and grabbed a gun.
The robber shot at Kwon, missing him, and Kwon shot back, police said. It's not clear whether Kwon's shot hit the robber.
Labels: business robbery, NC
10/3/08
Raleigh, North Carolina
From WTVD of October 3, 2008
Robbery suspect shot, killed
A suspect was shot and killed during a robbery attempt near NC State Thursday night.
Eyewitnesses say a local store owner opened fire as he was being held up around 9 p.m.
The incident happened at Tienda Hispana on Western Boulevard near Clanton Street. A portion of the road was blocked off as police cleared the scene.
Jpse Jimenez, the owner's nephew, says his uncle shot a suspect trying to rob his store and two other suspects fled the scene.
Raleigh Police say the incident is a death investigation and are looking for the other suspects.
Labels: business robbery, NC
9/8/08
Fayetteville, North Carolina
From the Fayetteville, Observer of September 6, 2008
Fayetteville man shoots, kills, intruder
A gunman who broke into a Fayetteville home Friday night was shot and killed by another man who was inside the home at the time, police said.
The gunman and an accomplice forced their way into the house in the 6400 block of Winter Park Drive about 10:50 p.m., said police Sgt. Sam Oates.
An occupant of the home grabbed a small-caliber handgun he kept in the house and fired two shots at the pair as they hastily retreated.
Police found the dead assailant lying in the driveway of a nearby home. A gun was still in his hand, Oates said.
Police hadn’t identified the participants as of 2:30 p.m. Saturday, and no other details were available.
Labels: home invasion, NC
9/2/08
Charlotte, North Carolina
From WBTV of September 2, 2008
Would-be Burglar Killed, Police Say
Police are investigating a shooting that happened Tuesday afternoon in northwest Charlotte.
Reports suggest a man came home to find Timothy Michael Quinn inside his house. Police say Quinn broke into the home through a side door.
The homeowner confronted Quinn, telling him to get on the floor. He told police Quinn came towards him instead. That's when the homeowner shot Quinn at least one time with a handgun.
Police say the homeowner called 911 and voluntarily accompanied CMPD officers to Police Headquarters for an interview. So far, no charges have been filed.
Anyone with information about this incident can now call 704-432-TIPS and you will be able to speak to a Homicide Unit detective directly. Detective Osorio is the lead detective working this case. In addition, the public can still call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 with any information.
Labels: home invasion, NC, residence burglary
7/21/08
Charlotte, North Carolina
From News 14 of July 21, 2008
Teenager fends off would-be robbers
Two suspects are on the run after a teenager in the house they were robbing turned one of the criminals' guns against them.
At about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, police said two robbers broke into Danielle Gardin's home in north Charlotte.
"One guy opened up the garage, let the van in and then they started going upstairs," Gardin said.
Gardin wasn't home, but her 14-year-old son Dante was. He had locked the door to his room at the top of the stairs, called 911 and hid in the closet.
"One of the guys kicked the door in, and then he started going through Dante's stuff," Gardin said.
The teenager had armed himself with a pocket knife. And with the stranger in his room distracted, Dante attacked.
"That's when he came out of the closet and that's when he stabbed the guy in the stomach," Gardin said.
While the two struggled in the room, the robber's gun fell to the floor. Dante picked it up and aimed it at the would-be criminal.
The man then took off down the stairs then sped away with his accomplice in the getaway van, damaging part of Gardin's garage in the process.
"I watch the news all the time and see this on the news all the time," Gardin said. "You just never think that it's going to happen to you, but, hey, you can't ever rule yourself out."
Hours after the ordeal, the damage to the home was already being repaired. And Gardin said she knows it could have been much worse.
"I was scared not knowing if he was OK," she said. "Just to know that he is OK, mentally and physically, was just the most important part for me."
Police said both suspects are black males with dreadlocks. One of the suspects was wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt and jeans. The other was wearing a blue polo shirt with white stripes.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, minor defender, NC, residence burglary
6/19/08
Greenville, North Carolina
From June 17, 2008 WITN channel 7:
A pizza delivery driver fought back at a group of suspects who tried to rob him, pulling out a gun and wounding one of them.
Greenville Police say the incident happened early Monday morning at 1105 A Masters Lane when the Chanellos Pizza driver said three suspects began hitting him as he was delivering the pizzas. Police say the delivery driver then pulled out a gun and began to fire. One of the three robbery suspects was struck. Elvis Deans Junior, a 17 year-old student at South Central High School, is listed in stable but critical condition. He'll be charged with Common Law Robbery and Assault Inflicting Serious Injury.
Police also arrested 18 year-old Thomas James, 18 year-old Sunil Persaud, and 17 year old Kevin Haynie all of Greenville. They are charged with common law robbery. Police also say they charged a 14 year old who they say planned the crime.
The pizza delivery driver was taken to the hospital and was treated and released.
Labels: minor offender, NC, pizza delivery driver, street robbery
6/9/08
Lincoln County, North Carolina
From the Gaston Gazette of June 9, 2008
Homeowner hits home invader with shotgun blast; Deputies following blood trail
A Lincoln County man picked up his shotgun and fired twice when he saw a flashlight beam shining under the bedroom door and then heard someone grabbing the door handle, according to a Lincoln County Sheriff's Office release.
The incident took place around 2:50 a.m. Monday at a home on the 4400 block of Catawba Burris Road in eastern Lincoln County.
At least one person was hit and officers followed a blood trail out of the residence, down the driveway and a short distance south on Catawba Burris Road, according to the release.
Lincoln County Sheriff's officers are searching door-to door and a reverse 9-1-1 call went out at 4 a.m.
The homeowners told Lincoln County investigators they were awakened by the sound of breaking glass around 2:50 a.m.
Officers do not know if more than one person was inside the residence.
Deputies including the Tactical warrant Team and K-9 units have been searching the area looking for the suspect.
Labels: home invasion, NC
5/30/08
Henderson County, North Carolina
From the Times News of May 16, 2008
Man shoots bear in backyard
David Jenkins woke Wednesday morning to the barking of his dog, Sammy. He soon discovered the cause of the commotion — a black bear in the backyard of his Henderson County home.
Jenkins said he grabbed his shotgun for protection. He told his wife to stay in the house as he went to try to scare the bear and rescue his dog.
“The bear was standing up on his hind legs and I knew it was going to kill my dog. ... I had to do something,” Jenkins said.
After an attempt to scare off the bear failed, Jenkins said he knew he had to protect his dog and himself.
So Jenkins fired his shotgun in the direction of the bear. The shot hit the bear.
“The bear started to wander off and I didn’t want to leave a wounded bear wandering around the neighborhood,” he said. “So I followed the bear and shot him again.”
Jenkins said he immediately alerted the local game warden about what happened. He said a biologist came to his house first and extracted a tooth from the bear to determine its age.
Jenkins said the black bear was about 2 years old. It weighed about 250 pounds, he said.
“When the game warden arrived he said that I was fully justified in the shooting because I had attempted to scare the bear away before firing my first shot,” he said. “It was a very unfortunate situation.”
Times-News efforts to contact Henderson County authorities with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission were unsuccessful Thursday.
Jenkins said he has never seen a bear in his neighborhood off Howard Gap Road, though he has seen deer, coyote and wild turkeys.
“I was scared to death of the thing,” he said.
5/27/08
Mount Gilead, North Carolina
From WXII of May 23, 2008
Men Attempt Robbery, Woman Shoots One Dead, Deputies Say
A woman who was awakened Friday morning to two men trying to ram a van through the front door of her business shot and killed one of the men, Montgomery County deputies said.
Deputies said the two men had robbed a motel in Troy earlier before driving to a Mount Gilead coffee shop and attempting to rob it.
That's when deputies said Bouaphan Chanthunom, 51, opened fire with an assault rifle, instantly killing Joseph Murphy McRae, 36, of Mount Gilead.
The other suspect, Jeffery Ray Liles, 36, fled from the scene but was later arrested at his residence. He was not injured and is being held in the Montgomery County Jail on charges of first-degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and injury to real property.
Deputies said Chanthunom and her family own the coffee shop and also use it as a residence.
Liles and McRae had been under investigation for other crimes in the area.
No charges will be filed against Chanthunom.
Labels: assault weapon defense, business robbery, female, NC
3/20/08
Hickory, North Carolina
From WCNC of March 20, 2008
Police: Home invasion victim shoots, kills suspects
Police say two suspects are dead after an attempted home invasion.
Catawba County sheriff’s deputies say two men dressed in black and carrying pistols forced their way into a home on 33rd Avenue in Hickory around 11:00 last night. According to a sheriff’s official, the homeowner was armed with his own gun, and shot the suspects. Both suspects were pronounced dead at the scene.
Major Coy Reid with the sheriff’s office said both men were wearing masks and latex gloves.
At this time, no arrests have been made.
Labels: home invasion, NC
3/9/08
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the March 8, 2008 Charlotte Observer:
A Charlotte man who police say was trying to break into a Shamrock Drive apartment was shot and critically injured by a person who lived there.
Rontrey Eric Digsby was at Carolinas Medical Center Saturday in critical/stable condition Saturday, according to police. He is charged with first-degree burglary for trying to break into the apartment on Shamrock Drive, near the Charlotte Museum of History.
Police have released the name of the man who pulled the trigger, but the Observer didn't publish his name because he has not been charged with a crime.
According to jail records, Digsby's last known address was on Treetop Court in east Charlotte. He has an extensive criminal record dating back to 2003, when he was 17, according to a search of court records.
Labels: NC, residence burglary
3/1/08
Gaston, North Carolina
From the Daily Herald of March 1, 2008
Wounded man shoots intruder
A Gaston man shot and killed one of two intruders he discovered in his house Thursday night, Northampton County Sheriff Wardie Vincent said this morning.
Sheriff's office investigators are still looking into the shooting, in which 20-year-old Walter Daniels of Gaston died.
Vincent declined to discuss whether investigators are looking into the possibility of self-defense on the part of Monte Arrington, 21, who fired the shot during a struggle with Daniels.
Vincent said the fatal shooting occurred around 10 p.m., at Arrington's residence at 544 N.C. Highway 48, which is just inside the town limits of Gaston.
Arrington and his girlfriend were returning to the residence and were confronted by two men as they went in the home.
The best information investigators have thus far is that Daniels was armed and drew the weapon. That's when a struggle between Arrington and Daniels began. During the struggle, Arrington was stabbed but managed to grab the gun and shoot Daniels in the upper chest. It is believed Daniels died immediately, the sheriff said.
Arrington was transported to Halifax Regional Medical Center in Roanoke Rapids and then airlifted to Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville. His condition was not known.
Vincent said authorities continue to look for the other man in the house, who fled. The sheriff declined to disclose the man's name.
“The best we can understand is they broke in to burglarize the residence,” he said.
The State Bureau of Investigation was called in for assistance and the Gaston and Garysburg police departments helped with processing the crime scene.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, NC, residence burglary
2/24/08
Charlotte, North Carolina
From WCNC of February 25, 2008
Shooting ends man's life of crime
A Charlotte family is grieving after they say their loved one was shot to death by a man he was trying to rob.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police responded to an armed robbery call at the Cricket cell phone store at the Catawba Village shopping center on Mount Holly – Huntersville Road Saturday night.
There, they found a man shot. Medic declared that man dead on the scene, and the only other person in the store was the store’s manager, who wasn’t hurt.
Family members identified the dead man as 54-year-old James Henry Brewer.
His mother broke down in tears in front of the store Saturday night and screamed his name.
"Who killed my son? Who killed my son? James Henry. James Henry," cried Mary Brewer Givens.
Police had not confirmed the man’s identity Sunday, but Givens said it was her son.
“We all stood there until they brought my son out of the Cricket place,” she recalled, “zipped up in that dead bag.”
Givens told WCNC Sunday that she knows what her son went into the store to do.
“The police told my grandson he had a mask and a gun when he went in there,” said Givens. She knows it’s not the first time he’s had trouble with the law.
A North Carolina Department of Corrections website shows James Henry Brewer has a record back to a kidnapping conviction in 1974, when he was 19.
Three other armed robbery convictions show up since then – the last in 1992. The DOC website said Brewer was released from prison in 2001.
Brewer’s wife, Tamara, said her husband worked in construction for three years after his release, and then stayed home to take care of her.
Tamara Brewer said she has diabetes, and her husband donated a kidney to her for a transplant.
She didn’t deny her husband may have been robbing the store. She said he is a good man who made a “wrong decision.”
“He’s in a better place,” said Tamara Brewer. “It was his time.”
Givens, James Henry Brewer’s mother, said he may be responsible for other cell-phone store robberies, and may have had an accomplice who hasn’t been caught.
Police weren’t available Sunday to confirm family members' details.
Further links:
Man Shot in Robbery Attempt
Labels: business robbery, NC
2/22/08
Castle Hayne, North Carolina
From the February 21, 2008 North Carolina Star-News:
About 8:55 p.m. Tuesday, an Inter-Pol guard spotted two men scaling a fence at a business with a history of break-ins, Guarascio said. He declined to name the business, citing confidentiality. But an official with county dispatch said Inter-Pol officers said they were at a business in the 300 block of Chesterfield Road. Guarascio said that address is near his client's business, but isn't where the incident occurred.
Inter-Pol's armed guards, who don't have arrest powers, chased the suspects into the woods, Guarascio said.
When the guards cornered the suspects, one turned and charged at them with what appeared to be a shotgun. After shouting multiple orders, a security guard fired three shots. The incident was over shortly after 9 p.m., but Inter-Pol continued to canvass the area until 11:30 p.m.
Inter-Pol officers returned Wednesday morning but found no blood trails, and no one had checked into New Hanover County hospitals with a gunshot wound, Guarascio said. He's continuing to investigate the incident and search for suspects. And while he will file a report with Private Protective Services, an oversight board with N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper's office, an outside investigation is unlikely since apparently no one was injured, Guarascio said.
Labels: business burglary, NC, private security
2/21/08
Charlotte, North Carolina
From Charlotte Observer of February 21, 2008
Would-be robber shot at restaurant
A would-be robber had life-threatening injuries after being shot by his intended victim at a northern Charlotte restaurant late Wednesday, police said.
The suspect was taken to Carolinas Medical Center after the 9:20 p.m. shooting at Floyd's Homestyle Cooking restaurant on Graham Street. Some of his bloodied clothes were strewn in the parking lot of the restaurant. Nearby, two guns lay on a sidewalk.
Police haven't released an account of what happened during the shooting, but Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Spokesman Officer Hassan Peterson said the restaurant was closed when the first officers arrived.
Police interviewed the man working at the restaurant and homicide investigators planned to interview him again late Wednesday.
It was the second time in less than three months that someone working at a business shot a potential robber.
In December, a man shot a teenager who was trying to rob his west Charlotte convenience store.
On that day, two teens walked into the Bradford Food Mart demanding money and at least one of them was armed.
So was the store's owner.
The owner and one of the suspects fired their weapons, and one of the suspects was hit in the stomach. The owner wasn't hurt and the injured teen survived.
From WBTV of February 21, 2008
Would-Be Robber Shot
A suspected robber is in the hospital after police say he was shot by his intended victim.
It happened around 9:00 Wednesday night on North Graham Street in Charlotte.
Police say the gunman tried to rob a worker in the parking lot of Floyd's Restaurant.
That worker also had a gun and shot the gunman in the face.
Medic was called to the scene and took the gunman to the hospital with very serious injuries.
No word if any charges will be filed.
Labels: altercation, NC, street robbery
1/9/08
Charlotte, North Carolina
From January 9, 2008 Charlotte channel 14:
CHARLOTTE -- A pizza delivery man fought back after an attempted robbery late Tuesday night in east Charlotte.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say the man was delivering pizza around 9 p.m. to an address at the Greenbrier apartments off Sharon Amity Road, near Eastland Mall.When the customer tried to rob him, police say the delivery man fired shots then reported the incident. The victim was lying on the grass when police and paramedics arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
This marks the fourth homicide in Charlotte through the first eight days of the year.
“Only eight days into the year and already this is our fourth homicide," said CMPD Officer Bob Fey. "It’s troubling and it’s definitely a concern."
Police have not said if the delivery man will face charges. They have not released the name of the person killed at this time.
Labels: NC, pizza delivery driver, street robbery
1/7/08
Gastonia, North Carolina
From the January 7, 2008 Charlotte [North Carolina] Observer:
A 16-year-old was arrested late Sunday night in connection with an attempted Gastonia convenience store robbery that left two clerks seriously injured.
Police say a suspect apparently engaged in a shootout with a clerk during the Saturday night incident.
Gastonia police said Brandon Carson of Gastonia has been charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.
A couple working together at the Gastonia store are hospitalized in Charlotte. Luke Williams, 45, and girlfriend Vickie Madsen, who is in her early 50s, were airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center late Saturday with multiple gunshot wounds, Gastonia police said. Williams is listed in critical condition this morning. Madsen is in serious condition.
The robbery occurred about 9:45 p.m. Saturday, when an armed man walked into Ken's Superette at 1528 W. May Ave. and demanded money. A gunfight ensued, police said, preventing the robber from getting anything of value.
The suspect fled the scene on foot, police said.
Faye Allen, Vickie Madsen's mother, said the Allen family has owned the store for about 25 years. Vickie Madsen has worked there much of that time as the manager.
Williams, Madsen's fiancee, had gone to the store Saturday night to help her close the place for the night, says Allen.
"My understanding is that the man intended to kill them," Allen said. She said it was her daughter who shot at the robber. "Vickie firing back at him probably saved their lives," says Allen, 77, who has often worked at the store herself.
"She takes after me. Somebody tried to rob me there one night, 10 years ago, and I grabbed his gun and my husband and youngest son jumped on him. The guy got loose and ran, and I chased him down May Street with his own gun, but I couldn't get it to fire."
Labels: business robbery, defender shot, female, minor offender, NC
1/2/08
Cherokee County, North Carolina
From WRCB of January 2, 2008
Self-Defense Shooting in Cherokee County, North Carolina
In Cherokee County, North Carolina, a case of mistaken identity caused a fatal shooting.
It happened yesterday on Old Peachtree Road, a few miles northeast of Murphy. Cherokee County Sheriff Keith Lovin says Luis Wajda and Ruthann King were arguing when they called a friend to come pick them up. When Corey Luther arrived, Wajda thought he was King's ex-boyfriend, and fired his pistol. Police say Luther ultimately returned shots from a shotgun, killing Wajda.
"The person attempted to retreat as far as he could," Sheriff Loving said. "He was fired upon first and continued to be fired upon, and acted to protect himself."
Corey Luther was not charged or arrested. Sheriff Lovin says unless his department turns up new information, it's unlikely the District Attorney will bring any charges.
Labels: altercation, NC
12/20/07
Greensboro, North Carolina
From the Greensboro News Record of December 20, 2007
Armed clerk turns tables on would-be robber
A Reidsville area store clerk turned the tables on a would-be robber by pointing a gun at him, the sheriff's office said.
Saveng Kaaosanga, 46, who works at the Cornerstone Market outside Reidsville, told the Rockingham County Sheriff's office a man entered the store with his right hand inside his coat as if he had a gun.
He was also keeping his face partially covered by pulling his shirt up and holding it with his left hand.
He demanded the money, but Kaaosanga refused. Instead, Kaaosanga defended himself by pointing a pistol at the suspect, the sheriff's office said.
The pistol misfired as he proceeded to flee the store.
He was last seeing climbing into a black, older model Ford truck.
The sheriff's office asks people with information to call 634-3238 to speak with a detective or Crimestoppers for a reward up to $1,000 349-9683.
Labels: business robbery, NC
12/16/07
Greensboro, North Carolina
From the Greensboro News Record of December 16, 2007
Store worker returns fire during attempted robbery
A store worker returned fire after someone fired shots during an attempted robbery Saturday night, police said.
The employee, who was not identified, was closing Andy's Pantry at 1301 Grove St. and was walking to his car when someone approached him from the south side of the business, according to Greensboro police.
The employee told police the man opened fire at him with a handgun.
The worker returned fire with his own handgun. The man then ran away.
Police described him as black, 20 to 25 years old, medium to dark skin, and 5 feet 5 to 5 feet 7 inches tall. He had a slender build and was wearing a black bomber jacket with orange lining and a fur collar, black jeans and a black T-shirt. He had white Nike Air Force One tennis shoes.
The employee was not injured. It's unknown whether the would-be robber was injured, police said.
Labels: NC, street robbery
12/5/07
New Hanover County, North Carolina
From December 4, 2007 WWAY channel 3:
According to the 911 call, the man heard his neighbors being attacked, ran outside with a rifle and fired a shot at the suspect.
As deputies arrived on scene, the 911 dispatcher wanted to make sure officers didn't confuse the neighbor for the robber.
The 911 operator said, "Tell your husband he needs to secure the weapon, meaning, he needs to put it on the kitchen table and he needs to stand at the front door with you with his hands up in the air so when the officers get there so they know he is not a threat."
Investigators don't think the neighbor shot the suspect.
The suspect is described as a black male between 20 and 30 years old, about five-foot-ten to six feet tall, wearing a brown shirt and camouflaged pants.
Investigators say around 10:15 Monday night a masked man broke into a house on Seaview Road off Myrtle Grove Road and attacked the two women who live there with a stun gun.
One of the women regained her composure and was able to run to a neighbor for help.
Labels: home invasion, NC
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the December 4, 2007 Charlotte Observer:
A store owner shot a teenager trying to rob his west Charlotte convenience store this evening, police said.
The would-be robber had serious injuries and was taken to Carolinas Medical Center. An alleged accomplice, a teenager whose name and age also were not immediately released, was arrested. He is being questioned by officers tonight, but officers have not said what the teens will be charged with.
The shooting happened at about 8 p.m. inside the Bradford Food Mart, near Interstate 85 and Freedom Drive.
The teens walked into the store and demanded money, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Spokesman Officer Robert Fey. At least one of the teens was armed.
So was the store's owner, Fey said. The owner and the suspects exchanged gunfire, and one of the suspects was hit in the stomach. The owner wasn't hit.
The teenagers ran out the store's front door and down nearby Saratoga Street, but apparently couldn't make it far and were apprehended by police officers a few hundred yards from the store.
Paramedics took one to the hospital, and the other was arrested at the scene.
Labels: business robbery, NC
12/3/07
Eden, North Carolina
From the December 1, 2007 Greensboro News-Record:
EDEN — Murder charges have been dismissed against a man accused of killing his girlfriend's son in a domestic dispute.
The first-degree murder charge against Emmett Jasper "Bo" Kennon Jr., 42, was dismissed Nov. 21, according to court documents.
Kennon was arrested in late October and charged in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Travis Clark of 183 Brightwood Road in Eden.
Travis Clark was the son of Kennon's girlfriend at the time, Lynette Clark.
Rockingham County District Attorney Phil Berger Jr. said Friday that the case proved to be one of self-defense rather than murder.
"We're deeply sorry for the loss that the Clark family suffered," Berger said. "It was a tragic situation."
Deputies were called to the Brightwood Road home about 11 p.m. Oct. 30 about a shooting. A sheriff's office news release described Kennon as being "irate and uncooperative." Travis Clark was found in the house with a gunshot wound.
Lynette Clark and Kennon had been arguing, sheriff's spokesman Dean Venable said in October, and Travis Clark got involved in the altercation.
Berger said information from three witnesses provided evidence that Kennon shot Travis Clark in self-defense.
Berger, citing information that witnesses gave, said Travis Clark put a gun to Kennon's head.
Labels: altercation, criminal's gun taken away and used against him, NC
11/26/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of November 26, 2007
Robbery victim shoots suspect
Police say it was a robbery attempt gone bad Sunday night in east Charlotte, and they say a would-be suspect is hospitalized as a result.
The incident happened about 11:20 p.m. in the parking lot of the McDonalds restaurant on Albemarle Road at Farm Pond Lane.
According to police, two armed men confronted another man in the parking lot and tried to rob him. The would-be victim, however, pulled out a gun and shot one of the suspects in the stomach. Police say the victim then ran off.
The wounded suspect was taken by MEDIC to Carolinas Medical Center with wounds that police say are not life-threatening. Robbery detectives are investigating the case.
Labels: NC, street robbery
11/17/07
Tarboro, North Carolina
From the Rocky Mount Telegram of November 17, 2007
Shootout at store kills clerk
Edgecombe County authorities arrested three teenagers in connection with a string of crimes at a Princeville convenience store that ultimately led to a shootout and the store owner's murder Thursday night.
One teen, who was wounded in the shootout, was charged with the man's murder; another was charged with having the gun purportedly used in the shooting; and a third was charged with burglarizing the store twice in the last month, authorities charge.
"These gentlemen are tied together," Edgecombe County Sheriff James Knight said. "But how the whole puzzle fits together, we don't know yet."
Ahmad M. Nimer, 61, owner of Wings N Things on N.C. 33, was shot and killed Thursday night during an apparent robbery attempt at the store, Knight said.
The store, which was previously called Exum's Grocery, recently reopened under the new name, the sheriff said.
"Gunfire was exchanged in the business, and (one of the suspects) has a bullet wound in his shoulder," Knight said.
William Earl Allen Jr., 18, of Tarboro was taken to Heritage Hospital for treatment. He is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Nimer, and he's being held under no bond.
(More)
Labels: business robbery, defender killed, NC
11/1/07
Greer, North Carolina
From Greenville’s FoxCarolina.com of November 1, 2007
Robbery Suspect Found Shot To Death
Man Was Shot During Robbery, Deputies Say
A man who robbed a convenience store on Wednesday night was found shot to death Thursday morning, deputies said.
The robbery happened at the Handee Mart at 1016 South Main St. around 8:30 p.m.
Deputies said a man wearing a blue, hooded jacket and khaki pants walked into the store showed a black handgun and demanded money from the clerk. The clerk then pulled out his own gun and fired at the man and he ran away.
Deputies said when the [sic] responded they could not find the man.
Around 10 a.m. Thursday, a passer-by noticed a body lying near South Main Street about 100 yards away from the Handee Mart, deputies said.
Deputies said the man had been shot. They said based on the description provided by the clerk, they believe the body is that of the man involved in the robbery. A weapon was also found with the body.
The man’s identity has not been released pending positive identification of the body, deputies said.
Deputies said charges will most likely not be filed in the case, but the final decision on that will be made by the solicitor’s office.
Labels: business robbery, NC
10/29/07
Gastonia, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WBTV.com of October 29, 2007
Gastonia Man Shoots Burglar
New from overnight, police say an elderly man in Gastonia took matters into his own hands when a robber broke into his home.
It happened at a house on Sixth Avenue.
The homeowner said he didn't know what to think when the crook came inside.
He was shaken up and shot the intruder.
The burglar ran off, and police say he was later found on South Myrtle School Road.
He was taken to Carolinas Medical Center where he was released a short time later.
He's in jail this morning, charged with first degree burglary.
Labels: NC, residence burglary
10/19/07
Conover, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of October 19, 2007
Conover man won't be charged in killing
A Conover man who shot and killed another man during an argument earlier this month won't be charged by the District Attorney's Office, authorities said.
Officials decided not to charge John Kenneth Hedrick, 73, in the Oct. 6 shooting death of 36-year-old Raymond Weathers because it appeared that Hedrick fired in self-defense, authorities said.
"There was not enough evidence to prosecute this as a crime," said Capt. Roy Brown of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
The men had starting arguing, likely over a female they both knew, in front Weather's Newton home, Brown said, and Weathers began hitting and kicking Hedrick.
Brown said the men were fighting on the ground, with Weathers sitting over Hedrick, and Hedrick was able to reach into his van and grab a gun off the floorboard.
Weathers was shot at least two times -- in the neck and shoulder -- with a revolver, and Hedrick had "visible injuries" to his upper body and head when the men were found in Weather's yard, Brown said.
Labels: altercation, NC
10/16/07
Lumberton, North Carolina
From the Fayetteville Observer of October 16, 2007
Lumberton teen shot, in critical condition
A 15-year-old boy was shot Monday night after pointing a shotgun at a man’s house, according to authorities.
The incident happened about 11 p.m. near a residence on the 500 block of East 21st Street.
The 15-year-old is in critical condition at Southeastern Regional Medical Center.
Investigators say the teenager was in a vehicle with four others. The driver parked the car next door to a residence. Four people, including the teen, got out of the car. The juvenile had a shotgun in his hand, said Sgt. Howard Reaves of the Lumberton Police Department.
Jeremy Locklear, 26, told lawmen he was sitting in his car in his driveway when he heard his dogs barking. He got out of his car to see what was going on when he saw the group near a building next to his residence. They came toward the house, and the teen pointed the shotgun in Locklear’s direction, Reaves said.
Locklear had a shotgun in his vehicle. He shot at the teenager, Reaves said. The teenager was struck on the right side with buck shots, he said.
The other men with the teen ran from the scene, he said. One person who remained in the car during the shooting was questioned by lawmen.
Investigators are still trying to determine why the men came to Locklear’s residence, Reaves said.
No charges had been filed as of Tuesday.
10/1/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From WSOC of September 30, 2007
Police: Charlotte Robber Shot, Killed By Victim
A man is dead after an attempted robbery went wrong.
Police in Charlotte said 20-year-old Javauis Brown and another man tried to rob a group that was having a get-together behind some apartments on Conway Avenue in southeast Charlotte. It happened early Sunday just before 1:30 a.m. Officers said someone in the group shot and killed Brown. Hector Rojas Picheco, 16, was also shot, but was treated and released from Carolinas Medical Center.
Labels: NC, street robbery
9/26/07
Lumberton, North Carolina
From the Fayetteville Observer of September 26, 2007
Prosecutor drops murder charge against Brown
The Robeson County district attorney has dismissed a murder charge against a Rowland man.
District Attorney Johnson Britt said the first-degree murder charge against Jaralyn Edmond Brown Jr. was dismissed Sept. 18 before a probable cause hearing in Robeson County District Court.
“Based on the information provided to us, it was a self-defense case,” Britt said.
Brown was accused of shooting James McDougal, 26, who was found deadat Mill and Hickory streets in Rowland on April 2.
Investigators said McDougal and Brown had fought.
Residents who saw the altercation and members of McDougal’s family said McDougal had stepped in to help a relative who was fighting with Brown.
Britt said statements provided by Brown and a witness indicated McDougal initiated the fight. The men said McDougal hit Brown in the face with what appeared to be a handgun, Britt said. McDougal shot at Brown, and Brown returned fire.
“We had no other witnesses who would come forward regarding what specifically happened,” Britt said.
Regina McDougal, James McDougal’s mother, said the District Attorney’s Office only received information regarding Brown’s side of the story. She said she provided investigators with names of possible witnesses.
No one talked to anyone on the victim’s side. No one ever called me or asked me anything from Day One,” Regina McDougal said. “The only call I got from the chief of police was the day of my son’s death, and that was to get the correct spelling of my name. I feel my rights were violated as well as my son. My son would not have been in the fight if the police had done their job. They are taking his word. What about James? It needs to be taken to court to prove that it was self-defense.”
Labels: altercation, NC
9/17/07
Surry County, North Carolina
From Winston-Salem’s WXII12.com of September 17, 2007
Authorities: Surry County Intruder Shot, KilledFrom the Mount Airy News of September 27, 2007
Deputies are investigating a breaking-and-entering case in which they said the intruder was shot and killed.
The incident occurred just after 8 a.m. Monday in Surry County.
Authorities said a man woke up and found another man climbing through a ladder and going through his window.
The homeowner confronted 55-year-old Howard Jones as he came off the ladder, investigators said.
Jones was shot twice with a rifle and later died at a local hospital, according to the Surry County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities said it wasn't the first time Jones had broken into the home.
No charges have been filed.
The case is still under investigation.
No charges filed in shooting
No charges will be filed against a homeowner stemming from his fatal shooting of a suspected intruder last week, Surry County Sheriff Graham Atkinson said Wednesday.
This determination in the case involving the shooting of Ky Howard Jones, 55, was reached after officials with the sheriff's office met this week with District Attorney Ricky Bowman and members of his staff.
Jones, for whom no official address has been given, was shot on the morning of Sept. 17 while trying to burglarize a home he once owned at 484 Surry Gadsberry Road in the Pilot Mountain area, according to earlier accounts.
Authorities have said that Jones had propped a ladder against the house and was attempting to gain entry through a window when he was confronted by Jayme Gullatt, the homeowner, who was awakened by a loud noise and grabbed a .223-caliber rifle.
The intruder then began to advance on the homeowner, who fired two warning shots into the ground, based on Gullatt's statements to investigators. Despite the homeowner's actions, Jones continued to approach Gullatt and got to within a few feet of him before being shot once in the upper body. Jones was transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where he died later that day.
Atkinson said Tuesday that after reviewing the evidence with the District Attorney's Office, it was determined that the homeowner had acted reasonably and within his rights.
As a result, no charges will be filed against Gullatt, whom authorities ruled was trying to protect himself.
North Carolina law states that a lawful occupant within a residence is justified in using any degree of force that the occupant reasonably believes is necessary to prevent a forcible entry or terminate an intruder's unlawful entry. Deadly force is allowed if the occupant reasonably believes that the intruder might kill or inflict serious injury to someone in the home or commit a felony there.
A lawful occupant does not have a duty to retreat from an intruder in such cases, under state law.
Jones earlier had been convicted of breaking into the house on Surry Gadsberry Road and was a suspect in another illegal entry there which occurred in the days before he was fatally shot.
8/31/07
Wayne County, North Carolina
From Raleigh’s NBC17.com of August 31, 2007
Victim In Home Invasion Shoots, Kills Intruder
One of three men accused of breaking into a home and holding the residents at gunpoint was shot and killed early Friday morning by one of the residents.
Wayne County Sheriff's Department officials said three black males broke into a home in the Dudley community at about 12:30 a.m.
There were two adults and four small children -- ages 4, 5,5 and 8 -- at the home at 2546 Old Mount Olive Highway at the time.
According to officials, the three men broke through a front door, ransacked the home and held the people inside at gunpoint. Apparently at one point one of the intruders fired at someone in the home at which point the man who lived there was able to find his own firearm and shot back. That intruder was pronounced dead at the scene.
The other two men escaped the home in a dark-colored vehicle. Investigators with the sheriff's department and the Mount Olive Police Department are both investigating.
Labels: home invasion, NC, residence robbery
8/11/07
Connelly Springs, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of August 11, 2007
3 killed in Burke Co. shooting rampage
Neighbor allegedly goes from trailer to trailer before getting shot to death; 2 others injured in attacks
It wasn't unusual to hear gunshots fired in this neck of Connelly Springs.
Mostly it was just men shooting targets, though a wayward bullet recently cut through a neighbor's occupied trailer -- straight through.
On Thursday night, the shots turned deadly, and in the space of about 10 minutes three men lay dead, including the shooter. Two others were hurt.
Burke County sheriff's Lt. Becky Brendle said it happened like this:
Just after 10:30 p.m., a man walked up to the camper home of Frank James Clark and shot him dead with a rifle.
He then walked the 150 feet across a driveway and yard to the trailer home of William and Shirley Clark, Frank's brother and mother, where William Clark was working on an ATV in the sultry heat. The man asked him where Clark's mother was.
Clark knocked the man's rifle toward the ground and ran inside the trailer before the man started firing through the front door. Clark grabbed his mother and pulled her to the floor, where the two laid as bullets passed through the home and Clark called 911.
Next, the man left the trailer, walked about 15 yards through the woods behind the Clarks' and knocked on the trailer home of William Clark's other two brothers, Edward and Wayne. He was told to come inside.
When the man walked in he started shooting the rifle. He shot Edward at least twice, killing him, shot a woman and man who were visiting, and then started shooting at Wayne, who ran to a back bedroom.
Wayne grabbed a rifle from the bedroom and waited until he heard the man's gun click. He assumed it was empty, so he stepped into the hall and saw the man there with the rifle in one hand and a handgun in the other.
Wayne, he told investigators, shot the man through the heart.
When it was over, Frank James Clark, 46, Edward Leroy Clark, 47, and 61-year-old Charlie Clinard Jackson, a neighbor of the Clark brothers, were dead, and Janet Elizabeth Lefler and Scott Elliott Campbell hurt.
Investigators say Jackson was the shooter and that nobody seems to know why he did it.
Friday, gauze pad wrappers dotted the yard where it all started. The front door of William and Shirley Clark's trailer sported several bullet holes, while more holes pocked the back of the home where at least three of the bullets exited.
Empty beer cans and junk vehicles lay about and a hand-lettered sign on the front porch read, "No Jehovahs Witnesses."
Neighbor Glennie Lail said gunshots in the area had concerned neighbors with children in the past, including herself.
She said she knew Jackson, whose brother also lives nearby. Her son would sometimes go to the brother's house to play with his dogs but would come home when Jackson showed up because he was scared of him.
(More about Jackson)
Labels: assault, home invasion, NC
8/2/07
Reidsville, North Carolina
From the Reidsville Review of August 2, 2007
Man awakes, chases suspect
An 80-year-old man armed with a shotgun sent a would-be burglar running it [sic] into the woods.
Scratching sounds woke Edward Childress about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday at his home on 6363 U.S. Business. When Childress went to investigate, he found a man standing on a ladder looking in his window, according to a sheriff’s office report.
Childress grabbed his shotgun, and the man ran off.
Rockingham County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Edwards and his dog, Amos, tracked Kennith David Eanes to train tracks about a mile away.
Eanes, 40, of 6960 N.C. 770 in Ruffin, is charged with attempted breaking and entering, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bail is set at $10,000, and a court date is scheduled for Aug. 21.
Labels: NC, residence burglary, senior
8/1/07
Washington, North Carolina
From Washington’s WITNtv.com of August 1, 2007
Washington Home Invasion Marks Fourth In Eastern Carolina
There's been another home invasion in Eastern Carolina. It marks the fourth in less than a week.
The latest happened in Washington in Beaufort County when a person shot a man inside his home at 701 Market Street, Tuesday night.
Stephen Mason says the intruder entered his home through the back porch. Mason says he was getting ready to go to bed. He turned off all the lights inside the home then he heard a loud bang. When he went to check it out, he says he was hit in the head by the intruder. Mason says he had his gun with him so he fired twice.
Police don't know if the suspect, who got away, was hit.
This latest home invasion follows two in Greenville. In one, a homeowner shot and killed an intruder. And in Wilson, a man was killed when someone broke into his house.
Labels: NC, residence burglary
7/30/07
Riegelwood, North Carolina
From Wilmington’s WWAYtv3.com of July 30, 2007
Riegelwood dispute turns deadly
The Columbus County Sheriff's Department says a dispute turned deadly Sunday morning. It happened around 5 a.m. on Robbie's Lane in Riegelwood.
Authorities say 23-year-old Terrell Brown broke into his girlfriend Ashley Brown's house using a machete. David Simmons was staying with her in the house and the two go [sic] into a fight.
Deputies say that's when Simmons shot and killed Terrel Brown.
Brown's friends are defending his actions.
Brandon Razor is the victim's friend. He said, "I talked to him the day before yesterday and he told me he was going to buy an engagement ring, he got engagement ring for my stepsister and he was going propose to her. He went over there to propose to her, I guess him and the new dude got into a fight and he just shot him."
Simmons went to the hospital with minor injuries.
Right now deputies say it appears the shooting was self-defense.
Labels: domestic dispute, home invasion, NC
7/29/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of July 29, 2007
Forced to kill: 4 stories of survival
Every year in the United States, about 200 people kill someone in self-defense. It's legal. It's often necessary. But it can emotionally scar the people who do the killing.
From 2001 through 2006, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police investigated 25 homicides later ruled justified.
Generally, police warn the public not to fight robbers because, they say, criminals are more likely to hurt or kill anyone who challenges them. But sometimes people feel they have no choice.
At least four times this month, would-be crime victims in Charlotte fought back against people trying to rob them. Two suspects were killed, two injured.
The latest occurred Monday, police said, when a clerk killed a man trying to rob her northeast Charlotte store. Prosecutors haven't decided whether to charge her. But "she is emotionally devastated by the decision that she was forced to make," her lawyer said in a statement.
Four Charlotteans say they understand how she feels. All fatally shot someone while trying to protect themselves. None was charged. But all four say the killings altered their lives.
(Much More)
7/23/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WBTV.com of July 23, 2007
Store Clerk Decision: To Shoot or Not to Shoot?
Robberies and assaults are not new in Charlotte's Hidden Valley Community.
During the past year and a half, the area has been hit hard by crime.
On Monday, a suspected thief was shot to death at a convenience store on Tom Hunter Road.
According to police, a man entered the Fast Mart just after 10 a.m.
He indicated that he had a weapon and demanded money from the female clerk.
Police say the clerk then confronted the would-be robbery [sic]. She allegedly fired one shot as the robber came toward her.
As WBTV's Steve Crump reports, police and the district attorney must now determine if this was a case of self-defense.
Labels: business robbery, NC
7/16/07
Greensboro, North Carolina
From the Greensboro News-Record of July 16, 2007
Man killed in robbery attempt outside club
A 26-year-old man was killed this morning in the parking lot of a strip club, Greensboro police said.
About 4 a.m. Monday, three men attempted to rob another man near his car in the parking lot of Lost Dimensions at 510 Farragut St., Capt. Gary Hastings said.
During the robbery attempt, the man fired a weapon at the three men, Hastings said.
When police arrived, they found a 26-year-old man - one of the three alleged robbers - dead of a gunshot wound in the woods on the edge of the parking lot, Hastings said. Police would not release his name until his family had been notified.
The other two men involved in the attempted robbery are in police custody, Hastings said. Police are still investigating whether the alleged robbers also fired weapons.
Police are also interviewing the man who fired the fatal shot.
Hastings would not release the names of the other men involved in the incident.
The investigation is still in its early stages and further details would likely be release later today, Hastings said.
Labels: NC, street robbery
7/13/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WSOCtv.com of July 13, 2007
Police: Suspected Robber Shot With Own Gun While Attacking Limo Driver
Police said a suspected robber was shot with his own gun Friday morning during an attack on two limo drivers. It happened at about 3 a.m on South Tryon Street just south of Clanton Road in southwest Charlotte.
Officers said three men with guns attacked the drivers of two limos and threatened to kill them. But as one robber reached for a laptop computer in a limo, the driver grabbed the attacker's gun and shot him. Police said that man was later dropped off at a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The other two robbers got away. The limo drivers were not hurt.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, NC, street robbery
7/11/07
Charlotte, North Caronlina
From WNCN of July 11, 2007
Homeowner shoots alleged armed intruder
An alleged intruder is listed in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center after police say a homeowner shot him.
Police from the North Tryon Division responded to a call around 8:45 Tuesday night at a home in the 5800 block of Eastbrook Road in east Charlotte.
The homeowner told investigators an armed man, who he did not know, walked into his home.
He also said he and other residents of the house fought with the man and during the struggle the alleged intruder was shot.
Police have not released his identity, pending notification of his family.
The case now goes to the district attorney’s office which will determine whether the homeowner was justified in shooting the man.
Labels: home invasion, NC
7/10/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WSOCtv.com of July 10, 2007
Police: Teen Shot In Stomach Tried To Rob North Charlotte Man With Toy Gun
A toy gun landed a teenager in the hospital with critical injuries.
Police say he used it during a robbery on A Avenue off Beatties Ford Road, but in the end he was the one who got shot with a real gun.
Diane Brody found him lying in a field next to her north Charlotte house.
"I thought there was someone down there passed out. I told my son, ‘Let's go down there and see,’ and that's when we heard the boy had gotten shot," she said.
Detectives say it was around 7 p.m. Monday when two teenagers targeted a man and followed him to his home. A 15-year-old got out of the car with the toy gun and demanded money.
But police say the robbery victim had a different idea. He took out a pistol and shot the teen three times in the stomach. The other teenager sped off.
Just up the road Valerie Blount runs a daycare, and like her neighbors she can't believe this has happened.
"That's what the scary part was, having a daycare here and as quiet as it was and all of a sudden you hear shooting going on. That was the first thing that popped in my mind, the safety of my kids," she said.
Blount has also lived on A Avenue for 15 years and says nothing like this has ever happened before on her street.
"Basically I couldn't believe it. It's fairly calm and fairly quiet so it was a real shocker," she said.
Police said the teen is still in critical condition. They said they have the name of his accomplice but no arrest have been made.
Labels: NC, street robbery
7/5/07
Kingstown, North Carolina
From the Asheville Citizen-Times of July 5, 2007
5-year-old pins rabid fox during family cookout to protect brother; stepfather kills animal
A 5-year-old boy grabbed a rabid fox by the neck and pinned it to the ground during a family cookout, protecting six other children before his stepfather could kill the animal.
"I wanted to protect my little brother," said Rayshun McDowell, who battled the fox in the front yard of his home Sunday in Kingstown, a town about 50 miles west of Charlotte.
The fox bit Rayshun in the leg, but the 61-pound-boy held the animal down for more than a minute. Animal control officials said Tuesday that test results confirmed the fox had rabies, which is fatal unless treated before symptoms appear. Rayshun is undergoing treatment.
"I looked out the window and Rayshun had the fox by the neck and was pushing it into the ground," said his mother, Shinda Linder. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing."
Rayshun's stepfather, Ryan Thompson, pulled the boy off the animal and kicked it. A neighbor fired a handgun three times but the fox continued to advance.
Thompson, wearing a cast because of a broken leg, said he used a stick and his crutch to beat the fox to death.
Rayshun, meanwhile, asked only for a Band-Aid and didn't complain of any pain.
"Rayshun was really calm and wasn't upset," his mother said. "I couldn't believe he would do something like that. He was so brave, and I was a wreck."
Rabies attacks the nervous system and is transmitted through saliva. It often makes animals aggressive. A 6-year-old girl who was attacked by a fox the same day at her home nearby also is being treated.
7/4/07
Hickory, North Carolina
From Charlotte's WSOC of July 4, 2007
79-Year-Old Man Shoots Intruder During Hickory Home Invasion
An elderly man feared for his life and shot a 23-year-old man who broke into his home Tuesday night in Hickory.
The 79-year-old man woke up to find that someone had broken into his home.
His quick thinking may have saved his life and his wife’s.
The man told his wife to go the neighbor’s house and be safe. Get out while she could.
The man then grabbed his handgun that he had in the house and waited for the intruder.
When the burglar walked into his bedroom, the elderly man shot him in the head.
The elderly man said it was a split second decision and one that he doesn’t regret.
Investigators said the man had a right to defend himself and his home.
The 23-year-old intruder is in the hospital and is expected to survive.
Investigators said that he would be arrested as soon as he is discharged from the hospital.
From the Army Times of July 5, 2007
Ex-sharpshooter surprises would-be burglar
When an unexpected knock rattled the front door, 79-year-old Dwight Cook left his perch in front of the television to investigate. But no one was there.
Minutes later, he heard the sliding glass doors break, and Cook sent his wife to the neighbors’ house and grabbed his gun. The would-be robber who entered Cook’s home late Tuesday night wasn’t expecting to run into anyone — let alone a former Army sharpshooter.
Cook used his .22-caliber weapon to fire a warning shot into the ceiling, but the bullet ricocheted and part of it hit the intruder in the forehead, said Lt. Hank Guess with the Hickory Police Department.
“I wasn’t aiming for him. I’ve handled guns since I was 12,” Cook said. “If I wanted to hit him, I would have. If he’d moved, the next shot would have stopped him.”
Cook held the man at gunpoint until police arrived after he dialed 911.
The intruder, 23-year-old Derek Scott Frenceschini of Hickory, was arrested. He was hospitalized for the bullet fragment in his skull and a fractured hand he injured during the break-in, officials said.
Labels: home invasion, NC, senior
6/25/07
Maxton, North Carolina
From the Lumberton Robesonian of June 25, 2007
Third man sought in botched robbery
Authorities are looking for a third man involved in a botched break-in that left one of the alleged burglars suffering from gunshot wounds.
Police say that Shawn Emanual, 25, of 521 McQueen Road, Shannon, was shot by the homeowner while breaking into a home at 609 N.C. 71 North on June 7. Emanual and Jeffrey “Will Steal” Locklear, 30, of 1312 Red Hill Road, Maxton, were charged with breaking into the home.
Police Detective Lt. Jamie Oxendine said authorities do not have the identity of the third man.
Oxendine said Emanual broke into Wyvis Oxendine's home at about 3:40 p.m. Wyvis Oxendine was watching television as his 15-year-old daughter took a nap.
“They thought no one was at home,” Jamie Oxendine said. “When they actually found this person was at home, that's when it all went wrong.”
The detective said the 59-year-old homeowner fired two shots at the men as they fled his house with some of his property. Police recovered a Playstation game system and nine video games in the front yard.
Minutes after the break-in, a sheriff's deputy saw Emanual - suffering from shots to the leg and arm - had him taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center.
Emanual was eventually charged with breaking and entering, felony larceny and felony possession of stolen goods. Locklear was charged with conspiracy to commit breaking and entering and larceny. He also was charged with being the getaway driver. He was jailed $5,000 bail.
Wyvis Oxendine, who used a .380-caliber handgun to shoot Emanual, was not charged with any crime.
Labels: NC, residence burglary
6/24/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of June 24, 2007
Intruder shot in NE Charlotte
An intruder was shot early today after entering a home at 327 Vickery Drive in northeast Charlotte, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.
Investigators say a burglary suspect, whose name was not released, was taken to Carolinas Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The man was shot after he forced his way into the home on Vickery Drive shortly after 2 a.m., investigators say. Charges have not yet been filed in the case, officials said.
Labels: home invasion, NC, residence robbery
6/22/07
Woodleaf, North Carolina
From the Salisbury Post of June 22, 2007
Men use stun gun on clerk during store robbery
Two men used a stun gun on a clerk late Wednesday night when they robbed the Handi Cupboard in Woodleaf.
The clerk still managed to shoot at the fleeing suspects, according to the Rowan County Sheriff's Office.
According to Sheriff's Office reports, the clerk said two black men, both around 6 feet tall, came into the store at 175 N.C. 801 while he was cashing out the register for the night about 11:30 p.m.
One suspect weighed about 300 pounds and the other about 170 pounds.
The smaller man was carrying the stun gun and wearing a black shirt and black pants.
The other man was carrying a handgun. The only available clothing description was a white shirt.
The suspects told the clerk to get on the floor. The robber with the stun gun used it on the clerk while the other man went around the counter to get the money from the register.
When the two men left the store, the clerk still managed to follow them, firing a 9 mm gun. The suspects drove away in a silver-colored car toward Woodleaf.
Investigators found five spent rounds from the clerk's gun. The Post does not generally identify victims of armed robbery if suspects have not been arrested.
Labels: business robbery, NC
6/20/07
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WBTV.com of June 20, 2007
Man Shoots his Neighbor; Charges Dropped
Police have dropped charges against a man in Mecklenburg County who is accused of shooting his neighbor last week.
Greg Hicks was shot in the chest and suffered a punctured lung. He nearly died as a result of his injuries.
"I would say it's so close, death was knocking on my door," Hicks said.
He lives across the street from his neighbor Chris Liewald.
On Tuesday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department dropped all charges against Liewald.
They said Liewald acted in self defense. Liewald said Hicks threatened him and confronted him on his front lawn.
5/25/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WBTV.com of May 25, 2007
Northeast Charlotte Attempted Robbery
Police are investigating an attempted armed robbery in northeast Charlotte.
Officers tell us a man walked into a Circle K / 76 gas station just before two o'clock Friday morning with a shotgun. This is on the Plaza at Harris Boulevard.
Police say the man and the clerk got into a scuffle and the clerk took the shotgun away from the man. The man then took off but he was empty handed.
Labels: business robbery, criminal's gun taken away and used against him, NC
5/24/07
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
From Winston-Salem’s WXII12.com of May 24, 2007
Police: Clerk Holds Robbery Accomplice At Gunpoint
Police said a convenience store owner held a burglar's accomplice at gunpoint Thursday after an armed robbery at his store.
Authorities said a man entered a Shell station on University Parkway at about 5:11 a.m. and demanded money. After he received an undisclosed amount of money, the culprit demanded money from the safe, police said.
The owner, James William Overby, retrieved a handgun from a concealed location and pointed it at the culprit, according to Winston-Salem police. A short struggle ensued and the culprit fled on foot, police said.
Overby then encountered a second culprit waiting in the suspect vehicle and ordered him to the ground, according to police. Overby detained that person until police arrived.
The investigation is still under way.
Overby wasn't injured.
Labels: business robbery, NC
5/23/07
Fayetteville, North Carolina
From WRAL of May 23, 2007
Homeowner Shoots Suspect in Fayetteville Home Invasion
Authorities are investigating the death of a man after a homeowner shot him after an alleged home invasion.
At approximately 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, Fayetteville police officers responded to an unit at the Lake Shore Grand Luxury Apartments at 5508 Faith Drive in reference to a home invasion.
Investigators said three men entered the residence armed with a weapon while the occupant was home. Police said the homeowner heard the men enter the residence, armed himself and fired, shooting one of them.
Police said all three men fled the scene and drove to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center where the wounded suspect died as a result of his injuries.
Detectives have the other two suspects in custody. Authorities have not yet released the names of the people involved.
From the Fayetteville Observer of May 24, 2007
Soldier kills home intruder
A Fort Bragg soldier shot a 16-year-old intruder to death in his apartment early Wednesday, stopping an apparent home invasion.
Buchkechio Geddie died at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Police said three accomplices took him to the hospital.
Geddie and the three others were planning a robbery at a unit in the Lakeshore Grande apartments, police said. The complex is off Campground Road, not far from Cross Creek Mall.
According to court documents, the four — Geddie, Michael Fripp, Torrian Knowles and Kwuamae Keaton — were at the apartment complex shortly after 5 a.m.
Keaton, 17, reportedly stayed in the car while Fripp, 22, stood at the side of the building. They were acting as lookouts, police said.
Geddie and Knowles, 18, went behind the apartment, court records said. Geddie kicked open the back door and went in.
The occupants of the apartment — soldier Brooks Boone and his wife — were awakened by the noise, records said. Boone reportedly grabbed a gun from a nightstand beside the bed and fired several shots. Geddie was hit in the chest.
The three who took him to the hospital have been charged with first-degree burglary and conspiracy.
(More)
Labels: home invasion, minor offender, NC
5/11/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of May 11, 2007
Woman kills man in scuffle
Police are investigating the fatal shooting in southeast Charlotte that might have resulted from a scuffle between a man and a woman.
Details remain murky this morning, but police confirm that a man was shot and killed about 11:15 p.m. Thursday night at an apartment complex in the 1100 block of McIlway Road. That's between Monroe and Randolph roads.
Police said they were called to the apartments and found the body of a man in the parking lot. He had been shot, officers say.
About a half-hour later, police were called to Presbyterian Hospital, where a woman had arrived with a gunshot wound.
During questioning, police quickly determined that the female shooting victim was involved in the death of the man on McIlway Road.
The woman told police that she had been attacked by the man, and a scuffle started. During the fight, she said, the woman was able to pull a handgun away from the man. The woman said she then shot the man.
Police homicide detectives are investigating the case and are asking the public for help. Anyone who might have seen the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers, at 704-334-1600.
The identities of the man and woman have not been released. They have been described only as a black male and a black female.
Labels: assault, criminal's gun taken away and used against him, NC
5/5/07
Winston-Salem , North Carolina
From the Winston-Salem Journal of May 5, 2007
Man is shot at, later charged in theft
The owner of a pizza parlor shot at a man who he believed had broken into his business yesterday, Winston-Salem police said.
The owner, James Daniel Moury, went to Upper Crust Pizza on Silas Creek Parkway after the store’s burglar alarm went off about 4:25 a.m.
Moury confronted a man just outside Upper Crust and, believing that the man had a gun, shot at him, police said. Moury missed. The man ran, but officers caught him in the parking lot, police said.
They have charged Curtis L. Barnett II, 25, with possession of stolen property. A warrant lists an address on Southdale Avenue for Barnett, but his family said he hasn’t lived there in months.
He was in the Forsyth County Jail last night, with bond set at $3,000.
Labels: business burglary, NC
5/3/07
Cleveland County, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of May XX, 2007
Woman cleared in shooting of husband
The Cleveland County district attorney on Thursday dismissed a murder charge against a woman accused of fatally shooting her husband.
Tina Weaver acted in self-defense when she shot Ronald Todd Weaver, 41, at their Kings Mountain home on Nov. 25, court documents said.
"The dismissal completely exonerates my client from any criminal wrongdoing," said Weaver's attorney, David Teddy.
There was a history of domestic violence between the couple, court documents said, and Weaver's husband had severely beaten her just before the shooting.
Weaver, 40, has been out on $40,000 bond since November.
Weaver, a mother of three, is relieved that the charge has been dropped, Teddy said.
"This has been a heavy burden she's been carrying since November," Teddy said.
Labels: domestic abuse, NC
4/28/07
Swansboro, North Carolina
From the Wilmington Morning Star of April 28, 2007
Swansboro High student, Paul Allen Kuerbitz, 18, of Windy Rush Lane in Cary, was charged with breaking and entering, possession of firearm with altered serial number, possession of a stolen firearm, larceny after breaking and entering, obtaining property by false pretenses, and attempted breaking and entering, the sheriff's office said.
Kuerbitz was arrested after a homeowner who had already been burglarized twice confronted a man attempting to break into his Stella Road home, the sheriff's office said. The homeowner, armed with a shotgun, began to question the man, who ran to a pickup truck and drove away.
The homeowner called county detectives, who traced the truck to Kuerbitz. On Tuesday, the detectives spoke with the high school senior, who was identified by the homeowner as the man who attempted to break into his house, the release said. Three guns stolen from the Stella Road home were recovered during the investigation, the sheriff's office said.
Labels: NC, residence robbery
4/26/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WSOCtv.com of April 26, 2007
Cab Driver Shot, Then Shoots Back During Attempted Robbery
3 people could be charged with trying to rob a car driver in East Charlotte. It all happened around 11:30 on Wednesday night. The cab driver pulled up in front of a home on Wilora Landing Road. Three people in the cab attempted to rob the driver. A scuffle ensued and the driver was shot in the ring finger. During the struggle, the cab rolled into the porch of the building. The driver was able to wrestle the gun away from one of the suspects. He then shot that person in the leg and shoulder. The injuries to the cab driver and robber are non-life threatening. All three passengers in the cab are in police custody.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, defender shot, NC, street robbery
4/24/07
Gastonia, North Carolina
From WSOC of April 24, 2007
Gastonia Man Says He Shot Intruder Through His Door
A Gastonia homeowner says he shot a man through the door of his Log Cabin Road home early Tuesday because the man was trying to break-in.
"I just wasn't going to allow (the break-in) to happen. I had no idea what his intentions was and I wasn't going to find out," he said.
The homeowner, who didn't want to be identified because he's still frightened, says he was sitting in his house when some time after midnight one of his young children heard something at the front door.
"My oldest child alerted me that there was someone on the porch trying to get in," he said.
He grabbed his pistol and started walking to the door, but before he got there it began to open.
"I saw the door open and I began to fire. I purposely aimed down. I didn't want to kill nobody," he said.
The intruder came very close to getting inside, but instead ended up running to a car waiting nearby.
"I fired over their heads and scared them off," the homeowner said.
Police say a short time later the intruder was dropped off at Gaston Memorial Hospital with gunshot wounds to one leg. He had to be flown to Carolinas Medical Center for treatment.
Investigators are still trying to determine whether the homeowner fired in defiance or self defense. Gun laws in North Carolina say homeowners are justified using any degree of force if they believe the intruder is a threat or think the intruder intends to commit a felony.
Labels: home invasion, NC
4/13/07
Maxton, North Carolina
From the Lumberton Robesonian of April 13, 2007
Man shot in leg during fight
A Maxton man was shot in the leg early Wednesday morning during a fight with his estranged girlfriend, according to sheriff's Deputy Eric Gavighan.
Michael Joseph Mollo, 45, was shot after he forced his way into Ruth Ann Jones-Moreno's Papas Drive home and held her against her will for more than three hours, Gavighan said.
Mollo was threatening Jones-Moreno with a large fork when she fired a shotgun at him, Gavighan said. Mollo underwent surgery Wednesday night.
No charges have been filed.
Labels: domestic abuse, NC
3/17/07
Indian Trail, North Carolina
From March 15, 2007 WSOC channel 9:
INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. -- Police say a man who robbed a gas station in February while wearing boxer shorts over his head tried to rob the same store again Saturday night.
According to the Enquirer Journal, police said Michael Thompson put on boxer shorts again when he tried to hold up the BP on Idlewild Road in Indian Trail.
Officers said this time the store clerk ran after the man and shot out two of his car tires. Police were able to apprehend the suspect.
Labels: business robbery, NC
Dudley, North Carolina
From the March 13, 2007 Goldsboro, North Carolina News-Argus:
Would-be victims take on robber
Outnumbered and outgunned.
That's how one would-be robber found himself when he barged into a family's home on Timothy Street in Dudley late Sunday and attempted to deprive them of out of their hard-earned dollars.
Instead of leaving the home a couple of dollars richer, the would-be robber found himself behind bars and in need of medical attention.
Wayne County sheriff's deputies responded to 111 Timothy St. after receiving a call. Deputies were told there had been a home invasion at the location and one of the suspects was in custody.
When they arrived they found one of the robbers identified as Andre Ahmond Lewis, 24, of Genoa Road, Dudley, being held down by one of the residents.
The victims, Santo Garcia Ramirez, 57, and Victor Alfonso Ramirez, 22, who lived in the home, and Rurin Pedis, 36, of Indian Springs Road, Mount Olive, told deputies two black males entered the home and robbed them out of $40, Wayne County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Rick Farfour said.
The men wore bandanas as they entered. One toted a handgun and the other bore a shotgun, he said.
"Before leaving, one suspect turned to fire the shotgun," Farfour said.
That's when the three victims turned the tables on him, officials said.
One of the victims grabbed the shotgun after it jammed, overpowered the shooter and held him down until deputies arrived, Wayne County Sheriff's Lt. Tom Effler said.
Lewis received a few scratches and bruises during the scuffle, officials said. He was charged with first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon and placed in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, home invasion, NC, residence robbery
3/10/07
Fayetteville, North Carolina
From Raleigh’s WRAL.com of March 10, 2007
Employees of Fayetteville Man Shot in Botched Home Invasion
Two men have been arrested in connection with a home invasion of their employer in Fayetteville Friday night that left both suspects with gunshot wounds.
Cumberland County sheriff’s detectives arrested Paul Euston Kent Jr., 20, of 5384 Wichita Drive in Fayetteville and Carlos Francisco Mozzo, 18, of 317 Summerhill Road in Fayetteville, and charged them with attempted first-degree burglary and robbery with a deadly weapon.
Investigators said the men allegedly entered the home of James Wiggins, 66, of 3411 Cumberland Road shortly after 8:00 p.m. Both suspects were wearing black ski masks, dark clothing and had a handgun in their possession, authorities said.
Wiggins told detectives his dog began to bark and he spotted the men approaching the home. Wiggins went to his bedroom, retrieved his gun and began shooting at the men when the backdoor of his home was forced open, investigators said.
Kent suffered a gunshot wound to the lower portion of his right eye. He was treated and released from Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and was placed in the Cumberland County Detention Center under $50,000 bond. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.
Mozzo’s injuries included a gunshot wound to a leg and one to the midsection of his body. He was transported to Duke Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment Saturday for the non-life threatening injuries. Investigators said Mozzo will be transported back to Cumberland County to face charges after his release from the hospital.
Authorities said both Kent and Mozzo were employed by Wiggins, who told investigators he owns a roofing business.
Labels: home invasion, NC, residence robbery
3/6/07
Statesville, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WSCOtv.com of March 6, 2007
Man Won't Face Trial For Statesville Slaying
A man charged with murder in the shooting death of a Statesville teen will not go to trial on the charge.
The Statesville Record and Landmark reports Kevin Turner told police he shot and killed 17-year-old Shannon Lackey in self defense at a party in January. Investigators did not believe him and charged him with murder.
But a grand jury has decided there was not enough evidence to proceed to a trial.
(Original Story)
Labels: home invasion, NC
3/2/07
Asheville, North Carolina
From the March 2, 2007 Asheville Citizen-Times:
ASHEVILLE — An attempted robbery turned into an exchange of gunfire Wednesday night, police said, ending with the would-be robber dead and the victim wounded.
Ahmad Qushawn Shivers, 17, was wanted in another shooting in August and on four other charges. Police believe he started the shooting that broke out in front of an Erskine Street apartment building that led to his death.
Frederick Martin, 20, was shot in the arm, an injury that police said wasn’t life-threatening.
No charges had been filed Thursday morning.
Labels: minor offender, NC, residence robbery
2/19/07
Hampstead, North Carolina
From Wilmington’s WECT.com of February 19, 2007
Relatives Targeted by Home Invaders
Thursday morning, a Pender County man woke up to three men breaking through his door and demanding money.
One day after the crime, his wall is pock-marked with gun-shot holes. The victim says they fired a .45 caliber six times. He ran to his closet, grabbed his shotgun and fired back.
Just minutes earlier, his cousin, who lives next door, also faced the three masked men. They demanded money and information, then assaulted him.
The sheriff's department and the victim say they still don't know why it happened. Authorities are searching for three men in a burgundy van.
But the victim says he's not waiting for authorities to find the men who invaded his home. He's ready to move, because he fears for the lives of his young daughters.
Labels: home invasion, NC, residence robbery
2/13/07
Morganton, North Carolina
From the Morganton News Herald of February 13, 2007
Thwarted Thief
Clerk Pulls Gun On Would-Be Robber At Morganton Convenience Store
A pistol-wielding clerk told police she she chased away a robber Monday night.
Officers would not release her name Tuesday.
Burke County Sheriff's Detective Rodney Norman says a man came into the Shop and Save on N.C. 18 North about 10:30 p.m. Monday and asked the 34-year old female clerk if she was alone.
Norman says the clerk had noticed the man around the store earlier in the evening, and thought something was amiss.
He says the clerk told police the man slid her a note across the counter that said "Give me the money from the drawer or you're dead."
The clerk told the man she couldn't read English, Norman says.
She told the detective the man then got angry and pounded on the register until it opened.
Norman says the clerk pushed the register drawer closed before the man could get any money from it.
She then pulled a small silver handgun from under the counter, Norman says. The man ran from the store when he saw her cocking the weapon, the detective says.
The clerk had pushed a button that automatically calls police, Norman says. He says she did that after the man in the store asked her if she was alone.
Labels: business robbery, NC
2/12/07
Gastonia, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WCNC.com of February 12, 2007
DA says shooting was self-defense
A Gastonia woman who shot and killed her ex-husband will not be charged with a crime.
Linda Friday just told WCNC that the district attorney decided the shooting was self-defense.
This weekend, Christopher Shane threatened to strangle Friday with an electrical cord and threatened to kill another man with a butcher knife.
Friday says she hid a gun in her wheelchair.
“It was either my life or his; I had to choose, and I did,” Friday said.
Labels: domestic abuse, NC
1/26/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From Charlotte’s WSOCtv.com of January 26, 2007
Robber Shot, Killed By McDonald's Employee In West Charlotte
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney will now decide if a McDonald's employee will face charges for shooting and killing a robbery suspect.
Police say 20-year-old Donte McFadden tried to rob the McDonald's on Freedom Drive in west Charlotte around 10 p.m. Thursday when both a worker and McFadden pulled out guns. The two exchanged gunfire, hitting a woman working in the restaurant. McFadden was also shot.
Medic transported both took both McFadden and the restaurant employee to Carolinas Medical Center. The worker is expected to recover, however, McFadden died shortly after arrival at the hospital.
Investigators say there were other employees inside the restaurant, but they were not hurt.
Labels: business robbery, NC
1/15/07
Wilmington, North Carolina
From Wilmington’s WECT.com of January 15, 2007
Late Night Shooting Leaves One Man Dead
A man is dead after a late night shooting on McRae Street in Wilmington. His family says the death was senseless.
Derrick "Dooby" Marshall, Jr. was shot to death after an apparent argument over a handgun. It happened on the 500 block of McRae Street in an abandoned building.
Friends and family of Marshall say the man who shot him was his cousin's husband.
Police say it was self defense, and no charges have been made against the shooter.
One eyewitness and close friend of Marshall's says he was an all around good guy.
An autopsy will be done later this weekend, and police say the case is still under investigation.
Labels: domestic dispute, NC
1/9/07
Charlotte, North Carolina
From January 9, 2007 WSOC channel 9:
Toddler Scares Off Would-Be Robbers In Northwest Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A group of men tried to break-into a home in northwest Charlotte Monday morning, but a toddler spotted them and helped scare them away.
It Happened On Long Creek Parkway, off Bellhaven Boulevard in the "Woods At Coulwood" community.
Two men threw a brick into a back window and broke inside the house. The victims say their three friends were waiting outside.
A 3-year-old inside spotted the intruders and ran for her father.
He grabbed a gun and scared off the masked burglars. He didn't want to speak on camera, but told us all the burglars looked young, and may have been teenagers.
Police looked for them, but never caught up with them.
Neighbors like Diana Lopez are worried their homes could be targeted next, "Especially because there's kids in the house, and sometimes they stay with the babysitter, so that's really scary."
One of the burglars fired a shot at the home, but didn't hit anyone.
Labels: NC, residence burglary
1/3/07
Orrum, North Carolina
From the Lumberton Robesonian of January 3, 2007
Ex-trooper kills assailant
A retired trooper with the state Highway Patrol says he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed the boyfriend of a family friend on New Year's Day, according to a sheriff's detective.
Robert “Sonny” Moore, 63, killed 24-year-old Travis Worriax with a single shot to his torso, according to sheriff's Detective Lt. Ricky Britt. Moore, who retired as a state Highway Patrol trooper in 1994, could not be reached this morning for comment.
“Basically, it will probably be a self-defense case,” Britt said. “We're still waiting on the autopsy before it's completely ruled self-defense.”
According to Britt, Moore suffered cuts to his left arm and his left ear during a confrontation that occurred about 10:30 a.m. Monday on Princess Ann Road. He was treated and released from Southeastern Regional Medical Center after receiving a total of 18 stitches, Britt said.
Britt said Moore told investigators the following story:
On New Year's Eve, Moore received a telephone call from Lydia Walters, who complained that she was having an argument with her boyfriend, Worriax. Moore said that Walters told him they had both been drinking alcohol and that Worriax had left the home after she had asked him to do so.
The next day, Moore went to the home at 1024 Princess Ann Road to check on Walters and was confronted by Worriax.
“When he walked around the trailer, Travis jumped out at him and cut him several times with a butcher knife,” Britt said.
Moore, who traps beavers and carries a handgun strapped to his side, used the .38-caliber revolver to shoot Walters during what Britt called a “tussle.”
“Sonny said he thought he'd missed him because the boy took off running about 75 yards toward the highway” before he collapsed, Britt said.
Britt said the case will be reviewed by District Attorney Johnson Britt to see if any charges are warranted. An autopsy will be performed at the state Medical Examiner's Office in Chapel Hill.
Walters, 30, was inside the mobile home with her baby when Worriax was killed. Britt said that Worriax is not the father of the child.
“You don't ever know what would have happened if he didn't have that gun,” Britt said. “He's 63 years old and he just had hip replacement.”
12/30/06
Durham, North Carolina
From the Durham News & Observer of December 30, 2006
Teen shot to death in Durham house
A 17-year-old was shot to death late Friday after apparently intruding in a house on Wabash Street.
Officers were called to 1420 Wabash St. at 10:30 p.m. and found 17-year-old Bennie M. Vanhook, who had been shot in the abdomen, Durham police said. Vanhook, who lived on Bluestone Drive, was taken to Duke University Hospital, where he died early today.
The resident at the Wabash Street address, 28-year-old Dennis Dingle Jr., told investigators that he and two females were in the house playing cards when they heard a knock on the door. Dingle told investigators he was expecting guests, so he opened the door.
Vanhook, who Dingle said had a gun, entered the house, and he and Dingle began to struggle, according to Durham police spokesman Kammie Michael. Vanhook fired one shot at Dingle, which missed, and Dingle then pulled out a handgun and shot Vanhook one time, investigators said.
Dingle and Vanhook did not know one another, Michael said. Investigators think the incident may have been a robbery attempt.
Dingle was charged with possession of cocaine. No charges have been filed in the shooting, which investigators said appears to have been justifiable self-defense, based on the preliminary investigation.
Both weapons were recovered at the scene.
Labels: home invasion, NC
12/28/06
Pembroke, North Carolina
From the Lumberton Robesonian of December 28, 2006
Woman claims self-defense in Christmas Day shooting death
Dixie Oxendine said when her ex-boyfriend, Ertle Ray Bell Jr., approached her carrying a rifle she knew that he planned to make good on his threat to kill her.
Oxendine said Bell already tried to run her off the road in April.
The 38-year-old woman, who had purchased a pistol right before Christmas, got out of her car and shut her eyes.
"I just closed my eyes and started shooting," she said. "I was scared he was going to shoot and kill me."
Bell, 24, of 56 Nancy Lane, Pembroke, was shot once in the head and four more times in the upper torso, sheriff's Detective Lt. Ricky Britt said.
After Oxendine shot Bell, she called the Pembroke Police Department. When officers arrived, she turned over her handgun and explained what had happened. Bell was pronounced dead at the scene. Britt said Bell's SKS rifle was found near his body.
"I was scared and that's all I knew to do," she said in an interview from her home on Tuesday.
The shooting occurred Christmas Day at 4:45 p.m. on Danielle Drive in the Pine Lake Park subdivision off Deep Branch Road.
No charges have been filed.
"It's a domestic dispute and (District Attorney) Johnson Britt has to review the case," Ricky Britt said.
Oxendine, a Robesonian newspaper carrier, said she and her nephew, Michael Brandon Dial, were delivering newspapers when Bell used his car to block her truck.
"He came to the truck and told me to get out," she said. "He said he had to talk to me."
Oxendine said she got out and asked him what he wanted. She said Bell was carrying rifle.
"He told me to get in his truck - I was coming with him," Oxendine said. "I said ‘no.' "
Oxendine described the relationship, which lasted from January to early March, as tumultuous. She said things got worse when the two broke up.
Oxendine said Bell had called her house and threatened to kill her last Wednesday. She said the next day, he had approached her while she was on her paper route, but he didn't ask her to get out of the truck and Oxendine drove away.
She said she planned to take out papers on him after the holidays and had purchased a pistol for protection until then.
Labels: domestic dispute, NC
12/27/06
Charlotte, North Carolina
From the Charlotte Observer of December 27, 2006
Man shoots at home intruder
No injuries were reported late Tuesday night in an apparent attempted home burglary that turned into a fight with at least one shot being fired.
The incident happened about 11:45 p.m. in the Hickory Grove area of northeast Charlotte.
A man told police he was preparing to take out the trash at his home in the 5600 block of Keyway Boulevard, between Kimmerly Glen Drive and East W.T. Harris Boulevard, when he realized an intruder was in his house.
The resident told police he went to get a handgun and as he turned around, the attacker struck him in the back of the head. That triggered a fight between the attacker and the resident of the house. During the scuffle, the victim said, he fired his gun once, with the bullet striking the refrigerator.
The assailant then fled on foot.
Labels: NC, residence burglary
12/24/06
Fayetteville, North Carolina
From the Fayetteville Observer of December 23, 2006
Clerk foils robbery; 1 suspect is shot
Three teenagers are charged with trying to rob a Clinton Road food store Saturday afternoon.
One of the teens was wounded when a clerk at Draughon Food Store shot him.
Mark Maurice Tarver, 17, Aaron Marquis Carmichael, 18, and Lamyer Campbell, 18, are charged with attempted armed robbery and conspiring to rob the store at 1711 Clinton Road, arrest warrants say.
This is what happened, based on arrest warrants:
Clerk Tony Draughon and two other men were in the store when Tarver and Carmichael, wearing red bandanas over their faces, walked in.
Tarver walked to the register, pointed a silver handgun at Draughon and demanded money.
Carmichael stood by the door and acted as a lookout.
While Draughon was opening the cash register, he reached for a gun under the counter and began shooting.
Tarver and Carmichael ran but not before Tarver was shot in the hip.
Drove to hospital
The two ran back to a car parked on Cardinal Circle, where Campbell was waiting for them, and they drove to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
Police arrested them at the hospital.
Tarver was treated and released. He was wearing blue hospital pajamas as he was being processed at the county magistrate’s office Saturday night.
A blood stain was visible on the right side of the long shirt.
Labels: business robbery, minor offender, NC
