Separate shooting incidents in central Sampson County on Monday and in the early-morning hours Tuesday hospitalized three people, including two teenagers. While no suspect has been apprehended in the teens’ shooting, a man has been taken into custody and charged in the shooting of a woman who lived with him south of Clinton.
Shortly after midnight, in the early morning hours Tuesday, a report of a shooting was called in to the E-911 Center. Deputies were dispatched to 251 Byrd-Yancey-Bass Road, Clinton, in regard to two shooting victims. Upon arrival, deputies discovered two young males outside the residence being tended to by family members.
Both males had apparent gunshot wounds to their lower extremities, however the wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, according to a press release issued by the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday.
According to family members, they were in the residence when gunshots rang out and bullets started piercing the single-wide trailer. No one was able to provide a suspect description, sheriff’s authorities said.
A second residence nearby, 268 Byrd-Yancey-Bass Road, was also damaged by gunfire, however no one was injured.
The wounded, Kweli Harrington, 18, and a 17-year-old whose name was not released, were transported to Sampson Regional Medical Center for treatment.
That incident came in the wake of an unrelated shooting the night before, just 11 miles away.
In that Monday shooting, the Sampson County E-911 Center received a call regarding a shooting victim at 964 The Avenue, Clinton. Upon arrival, deputies discovered that the victim, identified as LaShanda Yvette Petty, 38, had been transferred by private vehicle to Sampson Regional Medical Center.
Petty, listed as a resident of The Avenue location, was shot in one of her lower extremities, however the injury was non-life threatening, authorities said.
Deputies conducted a search of the crime scene and located a male hiding outside the property, as well as a stolen firearm. The male, identified as Daniel O’Neal Gaither, 43, of the same The Avenue residence, was detained.
Gaither was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and possession of a stolen firearm, with authorities saying that investigators “developed enough probable cause and evidence” to level the offenses.
Gaither was placed in the Sampson County Detention Center under a $115,000 bond with an initial court date set for Oct. 18