Caldwell County mother mourns death of son killed outside Greensboro mall

CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — The shooting death of Lenoir man outside a Greensboro mall was random and robbery may have been the motive, investigators said.

Westley Tugman left his Caldwell County home to visit family members in Greensboro and take his niece shopping for a birthday present at the Four Seasons Town Center last month.

The two were walking to their car when Tugman was ambushed and shot in the parking lot.

"I miss him,” said his mother, Diane Tugman. “I never thought today I'd be doing this. I never thought I would bury one of my children.”

Westley Tugman was well-known in Lenoir where he graduated from West Caldwell High School. He made it a point to pick up his mother every day from her job in town.

"If anybody, anybody knows anything please, come forward,” the mother said. “Because I'm a hurt mother.”

"Always had you laughing,” his cousin, Chad Tugman, said. “Always smiling. Never met a stranger. Would do anything for you.”

Police described the shooting as tragic, saying Westley Tugman was an innocent victim.

They released this surveillance photo of Tugman and his niece walking out of the mall moments before he was shot.

"I just want justice,” Diane Tugman said. “Justice for my child, because you got to get this man. I'm telling you he's going to do someone else like this. Somebody else's mother is going to be hurt like me."

CrimeStoppers in Greensboro is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case.

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