Apartment complex employee charged in shooting of 19-year-old in Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Authorities in Fayetteville have charged an apartment complex employee in the shooting of a 19-year-old man late Wednesday night.
The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. at the Eagle Point Village Apartments on Cliffdale Road.
The Fayetteville Police Department said Demarcus Turner was confronted by 48-year-old Donald Lee Nichols in the pool area. Nichols, according to a friend and neighbor, was a maintenance worker in the complex.Turner, who does not live in the complex, was with a group at the pool.
Police say the confrontation turned physical, and Nichols pulled out a handgun, shooting Turner in the leg.
Police said no one else was in possession of a weapon, and it is still unclear what led up to the argument.
"Detective are still looking at this," said Fayetteville Police spokesperson, Lt. Todd Joyce. "Whether it had something to do with if the apartment complex had a time frame about not being able to be at the pool or something like that."
Turner was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, and later transferred to UNC Hospital, where he is currently in stable condition.
Nichols, of Hope Mills, was arrested early Thursday morning, and charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. He remains in the Cumberland County jail under a secured bond.
Larry Pluss, Nichols friend and neighbor of nearly ten years, said Thursday he was stunned to hear of the charge. He said Nichols "doesn't have a bad bone in his body," is helpful to neighbors and always working at the apartment complex.
"He's a hell of a worker. Hard worker," said Pluss. "When the air conditioner breaks out there, you know, you've got 300 units, so he's got to be out there constantly. So he's out there working sometimes 20 hours a day."
Turner, a Westover graduate, lives just miles from the complex where he was shot. Family members were not available for comment at home Thursday.
On Friday, a representative with the complex's management, Greensboro-based R.E. Carroll Management Company, confirmed it is against company policy for employees to be in possession of weapons on their properties.
Calls to R.E. Carroll Management, the Greensboro-based company that runs Eagle Pointe, were not returned Thursday. The property's weapons policy, as well as more information regarding Nichols' employment are unclear.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call detectives with the Fayetteville Police Department at (910) 433-1856 or Crimestoppers at (910) 483-TIPS (8477). Crimestoppers information can also be submitted by visiting http://www.fay-nccrimestoppers.org/send_a_tip.aspx and completing the anonymous online tip sheet or by text-a-tip on your mobile device by sending a message to 274637 (in the text box type "4Tip" followed by your message).
