Thread: NC-Authorities: 4 shot to death in NC TV store

Authorities: 4 shot to death in NC TV store
Updated: Nov 01, 2009 9:51 PM CST


MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (AP) - Four men were killed in a shooting at a northwestern North Carolina television store on Sunday, and authorities said they were looking for a suspect who might be armed with an assault rifle.

Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson said at a news conference that the victims were shot in the parking lot of Woods TV store in the town on the Virginia border and less than a mile from the police station. Police said a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Marcos Chavez Gonzalez. He is charged with four counts of murder.

Watson said the victims and the suspect were at the television store for a reason.

"We don't feel this was a random event," Watson said. "We do have an idea why (they were shot), but we won't be releasing that."

Watson said alerts have been issued in North Carolina and Virginia to be on the lookout for Gonzalez. Authorities had detained two men but released them after it was determined that they were not involved in the shooting.

Nursing supervisor Sue Coe at Northern Hospital of Surry County confirmed that two people died at the store around 2:30 p.m. She said two who were wounded died at the hospital, just across the street from the store. Woods TV sells televisions and satellite systems.

Police say the victims' names were being withheld because their families have not been notified. Watson said all four were from Surry County that includes Mount Airy. The town served as the inspiration for the television town of Mayberry in "The Andy Griffith Show."

WXII-TV in Winston-Salem reported that people who knew the victims gathered near the store and began crying and collapsing to the ground.

Mount Airy, with a population of approximately 8,700, is about 100 miles north of Charlotte. Griffith is a native of the town, which has built a tourist trade on nostalgia for the show that continues to thrive in syndication.


http://www.wbtv.com/global/story.asp?s=11423075

MASS MURDER IN MAYBERRY!

We need the immigration status of the suspect fast on this one.

W

By John Hinton | Journal Reporter

Published: November 1, 2009

Updated: 09:43 pm

MOUNT- AIRY -- Mount Airy police searched for a man last night whom they believe shot and killed four other men in the parking lot of a TV and appliance store yesterday.

A Surry County magistrate issued an arrest warrant for Marcos Chavez Gonzalez, 29, who is a suspect in the shooting, said Chief Dale Watson of the Mount Airy Police Department. Gonzalez is charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

Police said that Gonzalez was driving a green 2003 Ford F-350 pickup truck with brown trim. Investigators considered Gonzalez armed and dangerous, and he has a criminal record.

Watson declined to release the victims' names. They lived in Surry County.

Watson said that the shooting occurred about 2:15 p.m. behind the Wood's TV and appliance store at 729 Worth St., which is in the historic district of Mount Airy.

Two men died at the scene, and two other men died later at Northern Hospital of Surry County, authorities said.

"This was not a random event," Watson told reporters during a news conference at the Mount Airy police headquarters.

Investigators are trying to determine why the men were in the parking lot and what events led up to the shooting, Watson said.

A high-powered rifle was used in the shooting, Watson said.

The State Bureau of Investigation, the Surry County Sheriff's Office and the N.C. Highway Patrol are assisting Mount Airy police in its investigation of the shooting, Watson also said.

jhinton@wsjournal.com
727-7299

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009 ... Airy/news/

Univision article (in Spanish) re : NC tv store shooting.

http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wi ... 3353.shtml

This guy was just caught in Va. He is a convicted felon! In this illegal lovin' State nothing surprizes me anymore... it was reported that ALL involved were hispanic.

link to his NC rap sheet

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us

Conviction Date: 06/05/2002
Primary Crime: KIDNAPPING 2ND DEG OF A MINOR (PRINCIPAL)

CONCURRENT TO SENTENCE NUMBER BA-001 06051983 OPERATE VEHICLE W/O LICENSE (PRINCIPAL) 05/19/2006 MISD. CLASS 2 MISDEMEANOR SS
CONSOLIDATED FOR JUDGMENT 06051984 RESISTING OFFICER (PRINCIPAL) 05/19/2006

INITIAL 01004720 KIDNAPPING 2ND DEG OF A MINOR (PRINCIPAL) 07/20/2001 FELON CLASS E
CONSOLIDATED FOR JUDGMENT 01051784 SECOND DEGREE TRESPASS (PRINCIPAL) 07/09/2001 MISD. CLASS 3 MISDEMEANOR SS

CONCURRENT TO SENTENCE NUMBER BA-001 01004720 POST RELEASE REVOCATION (PRINCIPAL) 05/20/2005 FELON POST RELEASE REVOCATION

6:57 AM EST, November 2, 2009

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. - A man suspected of fatally shooting four Hispanic men in the parking lot of an appliance store in Mount Airy was arrested early Monday at a hotel in Virginia, police said.

Officers arrested Marcos Chavez Gonzalez without incident near a Henry County (Va.) motel around 2:30 a.m. Monday . He was arrested on four counts of first-degree murder.

Gonzalez, 29, was being held in the Henry County jail, though it wasn't clear whether he had an attorney, jail workers said. It's expected he'll be extradited to North Carolina.

According to police Chief Dale Watson, the deadly shooting happened around 2:15 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of Wood's TV at 729 Worth St. in the historic district of Mount Airy. Two of the victims died at the scene. The other two were taken to Northern Surry Hospital, where they died.

Watson said the the alleged shooter used an assault rifle on the victims and added the crime was not random. "We do have an idea why (they were shot), but we won't be releasing that."

Police said the victims' names were being withheld because their families have not been notified. Watson said all four were from Surry County, which includes Mount Airy.

The town with a population of approximately 8,700 was the inspiration for the idyllic community of Mayberry in television's "The Andy Griffith Show" and hometown of Andy Griffith. It has built a tourist trade on nostalgia for the 1960s show that continues to thrive in syndication.

http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-mount-airy-s ... 4543.story

UPDATED INFO:

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. - A man suspected of fatally shooting four Hispanic men in the parking lot of an appliance store in Mount Airy was arrested early Monday at a hotel in Virginia, police said.

Officers arrested Marcos Chavez Gonzalez without incident near a Henry County (Va.) motel around 2:30 a.m. Monday . He was arrested on four counts of first-degree murder.

Gonzalez, 29, was being held in the Henry County jail, though it wasn't clear whether he had an attorney, jail workers said. It's expected he'll be extradited to North Carolina.

According to police Chief Dale Watson, the deadly shooting happened around 2:15 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of Wood's TV at 729 Worth St. in the historic district of Mount Airy.

Two of the victims died at the scene. The other two were taken to Northern Surry Hospital, where they died.

The four were shot in the shadow of a water tower that says "Welcome to Mount Airy" and has a picture of Griffith and Opie, his son on the show.

"This is Mayberry ... Andy Griffith's house is in spitting distance here," said Michael Wood, one of the owners of Woods TV.

Police do not believe the shootings were random, but Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson said they did not plan to release a motive.

Watson said the the alleged shooter used an assault rifle on the victims and added the crime was not random.

Police said the victims' names were being withheld because their families have not been notified. Watson said all four were from Surry County, which includes Mount Airy.

Jose Armando Hernandez, 46, said through a translator that three of the victims were his nephews. He said his family is "destroyed" over the deaths, which he said stemmed from a problem with a woman. Police would not confirm that or identify the victims.

http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-mount-a ... 7433.story

Still no word on the immigration status of anyone involved...

Police explore cause of fatal shooting
by Tom Joyce


An alleged mass murderer is back in Surry County after his capture early Monday in Virginia, with authorities still trying to pin down the circumstances of the shooting that left four men dead and shocked the community.

“We’re still in the initial phases,â€

SEE ALSO

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-176636.html

Murder suspect aided by Patrick County accessory
by Tom Joyce
11 hrs ago

An unidentified Patrick County, Va., man is believed to have aided a murder suspect in his attempt to escape authorities after allegedly gunning down four people in Mount Airy on Sunday.

An official of a motel in Henry County, Va., where Marcos Chavez Gonzalez was captured early Monday said Tuesday afternoon that a white male, between 25 and 30 years old, had rented a room for the suspect hours earlier.

Lt. Kimmy Nester of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that authorities there have determined that Gonzalez, 29, got a ride with someone else to the motel the night of the slayings and was using an assumed name at the time.

“That is being reviewed,â€