MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A suspect in a weekend shooting that killed two people and injured another at a North Carolina home died hours later during a shootout with deputies outside another home, a sheriff said Sunday.
In a post on social media, Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said Justin Michael Strawser was wearing a bulletproof vest and shooting at officers when he was killed during the shootout outside a Mooresville home on Saturday. The deputies and four minor children who were in the home with Strawser were not injured, he added.
Officers had responded to a call about shots fired at another home in Mooresville, where they discovered two people dead inside the home and someone seriously injured on the porch. All three were found bound and tied up, and the third was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said.
The sheriff’s office said Strawser and the three who were shot knew each other, so it was not a random home invasion. Narcotics and theft are possible motives, the office added.
Information about Strawser led officers to approach the second home, where Strawser barricaded himself inside and began shooting at them with the AR-15, the sheriff said.
While the house was surrounded, negotiators from the sheriff’s office tried to get Strawser to come out, Campbell said. They also learned that the four juveniles were inside, but the minors were uncooperative and refused rescue attempts, he added.
Authorities said some of the bullets fired by Strawser hit sheriff’s office vehicles. Strawser also told negotiators about his involvement in the deadly incident at the other home, the sheriff said.
Officers then used tear gas and urged the children to flee the house. Strawser left after them, wearing the bulletproof vest and shooting at the officers, the sheriff said.
Officers then returned fire, killing Strawser. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting. Three deputies were placed on administrative leave, per standard sheriff’s office policy.
The people killed at the first home were identified as two men, ages 22 and 24.
