'Nothing ever happens around here': Harnett County neighborhood in shock after double homicide
BUIES CREEK, N.C. (WTVD) -- A community in Harnett County is shaken after two men were shot dead in the Buies Creek area Thursday night. The sheriff's office is investigating the incident as the shooting suspect is still at large.
The resident who caught home surveillance footage of the incident says the shooting was quite a shock.
"This is a quiet neighborhood. Nothing ever happens around here," she said.
The resident who didn't want to be identified for security reasons says she had just come home when the incident happened.
"It was pretty scary to know that the gunshots were right at my mailbox and could have came this way, or the car could have came this way instead of the other way," she said.
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The sheriff's office said they were called to a car crash around 10:20 p.m.Thursday on Main Street in Buies Creek. When they arrived, first responders found 28-year-old Deshawn Rico Martin and 34-year-old Rodriguez Antonio McNeill dead inside a burgundy Nissan Armada with apparent gunshot wounds.
Lauren Avery says she was in the neighborhood to check in on her mother after she was rattled by the incident. She says the incident is a reality check on how pervasive the issue of gun violence is.
"I think mainly just because you feel like it's not going to happen here and so when it happens outside in places like Raleigh, or Charlotte or bigger cities, you think, 'oh, we live out in the country so it's never going to happen here. But I think that's the more unsettling part about that--it's that something like this could happen so close to home."
The sheriff's office said it appeared to be a targeted attack.
One man living on the street says the shooting was a surprise. But he said it's not unusual to hear gunshots in the area.
"When you do, it's usually for target shooting or maybe hunting, something like that," said Sean Fitzpatrick.
People in the neighborhood express compassion for the victims' families.
"I hate that it happened," said one woman. "I have an 18-year-old son, so I can't imagine."
Anyone with tips for the investigation is encouraged to contact the Harnett County Sheriff's Office.
