GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Emergency crews in Gaston County responded to a shooting call in the southern portion of the county early Tuesday morning that left three people dead, including the alleged gunman.
Officials said they received the call around 5:15 a.m. and responded to a home on Archie Road.
PHOTOS: Scene of deadly shooting in Gaston County
Officers blocked off numerous streets around the home after reports of shots fired inside the house, and a neighbor told Channel 9 she heard several shots fired early in the morning.
Channel 9 saw an ambulance speed away from the scene and police told reporter Ken Lemon two people had been killed at the mobile home.
Paramedics said they rushed the alleged shooter, 52-year-old Benjamin King, to CaroMont Regional Medical Center with serious self-inflicted injuries, but he later died.
Police believe King, from Fort Mill, South Carolina, parked his van down the road from the mobile home park, and then walked to the home where his estranged wife, 51-year-old Lisa King, and her boyfriend, 57-year-old James Baucom, lived.
The manager of the mobile home park where the shootings took place told Channel 9 Baucom and Lisa King, along with Baucom's five grandchildren, were inside the mobile home when the shooting happened.
Police confirmed that Benjamin King's son and his girlfriend lived right next door to the mobile home where the shootings happened. The mobile home park manager, Anna Islas said the couple also had five children in their home. She told Channel 9 that the shootings could have been domestic in nature.
"It's traumatizing to the kids and the neighborhood because we've never had anything happen like this," Islas said.
Police did tell Channel 9 there were five children in the home during the shooting and that most of them ran into nearby woods when the gunfire began while one hid inside the home. Officers said all the children were safe and unharmed. The children ranged in age from 4 to 13 years old.
Investigators said they did not know if there was a history of domestic violence between the Benjamin and Lisa King but that it was something they are looking into.
Police have not released the name of the gunman.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Gaston County Police Department at (704) 866-3320.
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