A North Carolina shooting at a Halloween house party with ‘underage guests’ has left two dead and 11 injured.
Gunshots rang throughout the large gathering at a home near Maxton on Saturday morning at around 1:15 am, according to the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.
While authorities were first called to the party at 298 Dixon Drive for noise complaints, they received multiple calls about the shooting on their way there.
Jessie Locklear Jr., 49, and Nehemiah Locklear, 16, of Lumberton, were fatally shot and pronounced dead at the scene, located at the end of a dirt road in a rural area.
It is unclear if and how the two people who were killed were related.
The remaining victims’ ages range from 17 to 43. One of those people was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Several others remain hospitalized, while some have been treated and released, according to the sheriff’s office.
‘This was yet another senseless act of gun violence that has taken the lives of two individuals and left many others seriously injured,’ Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said in a heartbreaking statement.
Jessie Locklear Jr., 49, was fatally shot at the Halloween party early on Saturday around 1:15 am
Nehemiah Locklear, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene of the party, where authorities said many of the guests were underage
‘What makes this even more disturbing is the involvement of teenagers, alcohol and guns at a large house party.
‘Dozens of videos posted from the party on multiple platforms, simply show that alcohol and guns don’t mix, regardless of age. As seen here, the consequences are once again tragic.’
The sheriff described the senseless shooting at the 150-person party as a ‘reckless and heartless’ act.
Police are actively searching for the culprit and have urged anyone with information to come forward. No suspect is custody at this time.
‘Some are cooperating and some are not cooperating,’ Wilkins said of witnesses during a press conference.
‘Which is sadly common for a situation like this with this many people here, it’s unfortunate.’
He reiterated that many of the partygoers were underage, and given the sheer number of people in attendance, the town should have been notified that the event was being held.
According to a poster allegedly promoting the party circulating online, the event was Halloween-themed.
The event was held at a house located on the end of a secluded dirt road in a rural area
Sheriff Burnis Wilkins called the shooting ‘reckless’ and urged people to come forward with information
‘Ain’t no party like a dirt road party,’ the poster reads, containing the address where the shooting occurred and that the event was ‘BYOB,’ an acronym for ‘bring your own booze.’
The surviving victims include:
- Unnamed victim, 17, of Maxton
- Nicole Harris, 18, of Raeford
- Anthony Harris, 18, of Maxton
- Jerami Locklear, 18, of Laurel Hill
- Trevor Jacobs, 18, of Pembroke
- Tylon Locklear, 20, of Pembroke
- Kiona Oxendine, 22, of Lumberton
- Erin Hatcher, 23, of Pembroke
- Gabriel Bullard, 27, of Lumberton
- Lacy Chavis, 29, of Shannon
- Delilah Locklear, 43, of Lumberton
