Witness Describes Deadly North Carolina Mass Shooting: 'Like a Movie'
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A witness at a North Carolina house party that erupted into a mass shooting, leaving 12 people shot and one dead, told local news station WBTV that the scene was unlike anything they'd ever seen, describing it "like a movie."
Several agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Catawba County Sheriff's Office, Hickory Police Department, and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are working on the open investigation, and as of Sunday afternoon there is no suspect in custody.
Newsweek has reached out to the Catawba County Sheriff's Office and the FBI's Charlotte field office for comment via email on Sunday.
The Context
Law enforcement responded to reports of people being shot at a residence in Catawba County around 12:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. Twelve victims have been reported, one of whom has been pronounced dead and sixothers are in the local hospital. One is in critical condition in a hospital in Charlotte.
The party involved adults and teenagers, Major Aaron Turk of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office said in a second press release, writing, "the victims range in age from 16 to 58."
"The investigation indicates more than one shooter was involved in the incident," Turk said, later noting that "more than 80 shots were fired."
An estimated 130 to 160 mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. so far this year, according to data from the Mass Shooting Tracker and the Gun Violence Archive.
What To Know
An anonymous witness who was at the house party told WBTV: "I was outside in the yard and I heard a lot of shots going off and people running to the front."
The crime scene, which was described as "complicated" by Turk, spans around 2 acres, with indoor and outside aspects. It took place on Walnut Acres Drive in the Mountain View community.
The deceased victim has been identified as 58-year-old Shawn Patrick Hood of Lenoi, North Carolina, according to Turk.
"[I] heard a lot of people got shot. I ain't ever seen anything like this, it was like a movie," the witness told the station.
The shots, of which there were dozens of, occurred at a "variety of distances," Turk said. The agencies are not yet providing details on the weapons used in the shooting, noting that there were multiple.
The motive is still unknown, but Turk noted that "we don't believe that this was random in a circumstance that might endanger the community."
Law enforcement has interviewed about 70 or so people, Turk confirmed at the press conference. Police have identified the victim who is dead but have not yet released the information as of Sunday afternoon.
Prior to the shooting, police had received a noise compliant about the party.
Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team use measuring devices to document a crime scene on June 12, 2023, in Annapolis, Maryland.
Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team use measuring devices to document a crime scene on June 12, 2023, in Annapolis, Maryland.
Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun via AP
What People Are Saying
James Barnacle, Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina FBI office, said during the Sunday press conference: "In this particular situation is we are supporting this investigation. We are bringing resources. We have Victim Services specialists meeting with victims of the shooting last night. They are at the hospitals, meeting with victims. We have FBI special agents helping with leads investigations and processing the crime scene. We have evidence response teams. They are here on site as well, and they are taking pictures. They are looking at trajectories of bullets, and they are helping to collect the evidence that's on scene."
Special Agent Angie Key with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said during the Sunday press conference: "We're providing crime scene assistance, investigative assistance, support interviews we've had our intel folks step up and provide assistance with that as well. We're continuing to help with this case, as far as assisting local, state, federal agencies."
Scott Riley, district attorney for Burke Holwell and Catawba County, during the Sunday press conference: "I'd also like to offer my deepest condolences to the families of all the victims involved. They have all had their lives just drastically altered and changed forever by this senseless act of violence."
Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, wrote in an X, formerly Twitter, post on Sunday: "And yet republicans in our state legislature are trying to make permit-less carry legal in this state. The answer to gun violence being the #1 killer of young people in communities across our state is not to make it easier for young people to buy one."
What Happens Next
The FBI is setting up a tips line for anyone who was at the party or witness to any related activity.
The investigation is ongoing, with law enforcement expected to continue providing press releases.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
FBI Sends Warning to All Smartphone Users
Technology offers a chance for connectivity and access most people would never have had in the past, but it's also brought a new way for criminals to attack everyday people. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning against a new kind of scam that targets everyone with a smartphone. What Is a Brushing Scam? On Aug. 11 the FBI's Pittsburgh office revealed the government organization is warning smartphone users against a new type of "brushing" scam. "In a traditional brushing scam, online vendors send merchandise to an unsolicited recipient and then use the recipient's information to post a positive review of the product," a statement from the FBI read. What's Different About This "Brushing" Scam? "In this variation, criminals send unsolicited packages containing a QR code that prompts the recipient to provide personal and financial information or unwittingly download malicious software that steals data from their phone," the FBI said. "To encourage the victim to scan the QR code, the criminals often ship the packages without sender information to entice the victim to scan the QR code. While this scam is not as widespread as other fraud schemes, the public should be aware of this criminal activity." How to Avoid the Scam The FBI offered a number of different ways to help avoid the scam or what to do if you believe you've been a victim of the new brushing scam. Beware of unsolicited packages containing merchandise you did not order. Beware of packages that do not include sender information. Take precautions before authorizing phone permissions and access to websites and applications. Do not scan QR codes from unknown origins. If you believe you are the target of a brushing scam, secure your online presence by changing account profiles and request a free credit report from one or all the national credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to identify possible fraudulent Sends Warning to All Smartphone Users first appeared on Men's Journal on Aug 13, 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hours before interviewing Patel and Bondi, Hannity bragged he wouldn't ask about Epstein. He stayed true to his word
Ahead of his dual interviews with Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, Fox News star Sean Hannity boasted that he would not ask them about their botched handling of the files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has sparked a national uproar. 'If I hear that name one more time, my head's going to explode,' Hannity exclaimed on his radio show Thursday afternoon. Indeed, when he got the chance to speak to both Patel and Bondi hours later, Hannity completely sidestepped any questions related to the Epstein case, instead focusing most of his attention on the administration's claims that former President Barack Obama directed a 'treasonous conspiracy' against Donald Trump with the investigation into Russia's 2016 election meddling. Hannity, a Trump confidant who has been dubbed the White House 'shadow chief of staff,' has led the Fox News charge in trumpeting the Trump administration's attempts to distract from the Epstein saga. In a two-page memo last month, the Justice Department concluded that Epstein died by suicide and did not maintain a 'client list' to blackmail prominent figures in his sex crimes, despite Bondi saying months earlier that he had the supposed list on her desk. The memo also found there was 'no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials.' Amid the furor from the president's MAGA base over the memo, which contradicted many of the conspiracy theories that Patel and other Trump officials had helped stoke for years, Trump ordered his supporters to stop paying attention to Epstein because the files were a Democratic 'hoax.' Fox News would immediately fall in line, largely ignoring the story while devoting much of its on-air coverage to the Trump administration's distraction efforts. This included Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassifying documents related to the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and accusing Obama and other intelligence officials of orchestrating a coup. Following Gabbard's initial claims on July 18, which fact checkers have called misleading, revisionist and false, the network aired 168 segments over the next 10 days centered on her accusations about an Obama-led criminal conspiracy. Since then, the right-wing network has continued to heavily invest in the story, even after Gabbard crashed and burned last week during a softball Fox News interview. During his afternoon radio show on Thursday, Hannity spoke to a caller who wanted to know if Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) would face any repercussions over allegations made by a 'whistleblower' that he leaked classified documents in 2017 to embarrass Trump. The story about Schiff, a vocal Trump critic, has received a lot of play on Fox News – especially after Trump called for right-wing media to cover it during a press conference this week. 'That evidence seems rather incontrovertible to me. But, of course, everyone's innocent until proven guilty,' Hannity said before pivoting to his upcoming interviews with Patel and Bondi. 'You know, the main focus of me having Kash Patel and Pam Bondi on tonight is all of this new information,' Hannity said. 'Now, I know if, you know, the liberal media, etcetera, etcetera, you would probably, you know, 'Oh, tell us about, you know, Jeffrey Epstein.'' Saying he 'head's going to explode' if he hears Epstein's name again, he then pointed to a CNN poll that found Americans don't feel the Epstein case is the top issue in the country before asserting that there isn't anything damning about Trump in the files. 'This was Joe Biden's Justice Department. If there was anything in there, it would have been released. I can promise you that,' he declared, adding that the DOJ has also met with Epstein's partner Ghislaine Maxwell and has asked for grand jury testimony to be released. 'So, let's see what happens.' Late last month, the Wall Street Journal – which is owned by Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch – reported that Trump wrote a 'bawdy' birthday letter to Epstein in 2003 that featured the president allegedly drawing a figure of a naked woman alongside suggestive phrases about his relationship with the disgraced financier. Trump vehemently denied the story as a 'fake thing' and promptly sued the WSJ and Murdoch for $10 billion. The Jounral and other outlets would later report that Bondi informed Trump in May that his name was included in the Epstein filed. The president has also denied those reports, with the White House calling it a 'fake news story.' Additionally, dozens of other public figures were reportedly named in these files, and the president has never been formally accused or charged with a crime in connection with Epstein. Meanwhile, Hannity told the caller that his focus during his conversations with Patel and Bondi would be on whether former Obama intelligence officials were in 'trouble,' what evidence they were compiling in their 'grand conspiracy investigation,' and what Bondi's power was in 'convening a grand jury.' 'That's my focus tonight,' he concluded. 'If you want to tune in and hear about Epstein, I'm going to tune in and find out whether or not we had the most corrupt deep state abuse of power in the history of the country.' True to his word, the pro-Trump host didn't once mention the Epstein case to either the FBI director or attorney general, despite those two being at the heart of the backlash over the administration's refusal to release further documentation about the deceased sex predator. Instead, as he hinted on the radio, Hannity devoted the bulk of his conversation with the pair to the topic of the administration's Russia probe and any further developments, including Patel's discovery of so-called 'burn bags' of classified information about the Obama-era investigation. He also praised Bondi over her role in the administration's federal takeover of the Washington police department, which the president has claimed is to fight a 'crime emergency.' At the same time, despite reports about turmoil between Bondi and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino over the Epstein fallout, Hannity assured his viewers that everything was running smoothly behind the scenes. 'At the FBI, the director Kash Patel is working around the clock with Dan Bongino and others and other agents. Not only are they dealing with the crime crisis left behind by Joe Biden and unvetted illegals, 12-20 million, but also peeling back the layers of what has been – what we have reported as a deeply politicized, weaponized federal bureaucracy.' Notably, Bondi – who has long been a frequent guest on Fox News airwaves – had been absent from the network for weeks amid the growing backlash over the Epstein memo and her central role in it. However, now that she is leading the president's 'hostile takeover' of the nation's capital, and Fox News has appeared to successfully move past the Epstein saga, it would seem that Bondi is once again welcome back on the conservative cable giant.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
POLITICAL ROUNDUP: Another distraction or was there interference in 2016 election?
TAHLEQUAH — In July 2018, a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment against Russian military intelligence officers for their alleged roles in interfering with the 2016 election in the United States. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 'Most Wanted' site, the individuals indicted should be considered armed and dangerous and an international flight risk. 'The indictment charges 11 defendants, Boris Alekseyevich Antonov, Dmitriy Sergeyevich Badin, Nikolay Yuryevich Kozachek, Aleksey Viktorovich Lukashev, Artem Andreyevich Malyshev, Sergey Aleksandrovich Morgachev, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Osadchuk, Aleksey Aleksandrovich Potemkin, Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov, Pavel Vyacheslavovich Yershov, and Viktor Borisovich Netyksho, with a computer hacking conspiracy involving gaining unauthorized access into the computers of U.S. persons and entities involved in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, stealing documents from those computers, and staging releases of the stolen documents to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election,' states the site. Other indictments include aggravated identity theft, false registration of a domain name and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the website notes. 'Two defendants, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Osadchuk and Anatoliy Sergeyevich Kovalev, are charged with a separate conspiracy to commit computer crimes, relating to hacking into the computers of U.S. persons and entities responsible for the administration of 2016 U.S. elections, such as state boards of elections, secretaries of state, and U.S. companies that supplied software and other technology related to the administration of U.S. elections,' states the site. A federal warrant was issued for each of these defendants when the indictment was returned by the grand jury. This week, Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered an investigation into allegations that President Barack Obama's administration made up evidence of interference in the 2016 election This was reported on CNN in an article titled, 'Pam Bondi has a new probe into the handling of 2016 Russian meddling. John Durham already spent four years investigating it,' published Aug. 11. During Trump's first term, Attorney General at the time, Bill Barr, said the government was spying on American citizens. Barr had Durham lead a four-year investigation. 'But Durham's lengthy investigation did not lead to any criminal charges — or allegations of significant wrongdoing — related to the CIA and intelligence community's role in concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and wanted to help Trump win,' states the article. Requests for input on this topic from U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-District 51, U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-District 52, and U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-District 2, went unanswered for this article by press time. On the Facebook forum Aug. 9, readers were asked what they believe is behind the investigation, and if they thought there was Russian interference. Kevin McFarland believes there was no interference. 'I believe it was a concoction from the Clinton camp to distract from her email scandal,' McFarland said. Susan Feller said all roads lead to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'This is supported by cold, hard, indisputable facts. What the studies did not find, however, is that Trump personally colluded with the Russians. People around him did,' Feller said. Darrel Ratliff 'absolutely agrees' there was Russian interference. 'But this investigation will come up with whatever they want it to come up with,' Ratliff said. Eric Swanson reminded commenters on the forum that multiple investigations have found that Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the goal of helping Trump's campaign and damaging Clinton's. Swanson said U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's claim about the Obama administration defies common sense. 'If there were evidence of such a conspiracy, why did four investigations fail to uncover it?' Swanson said. 'If the investigation proves that there was a conspiracy, then the perpetrators should be held accountable.' Swanson suspects this probe is an attempt to please Trump by attacking his political opponents, a clear example of the weaponization of the Department of Justice that 'MAGAs love to complain about.' Devin Gordon said this current situation is like a game of Monopoly: Someone gets mad and flips the board, or the winner loses when they acquire everything and the remaining players can't pay their rent. 'The housing market is collapsing, giving investment firms that already own every industry in America an opportunity to move in and buy more real estate for pennies on the dollar, closing the door on homeownership for millions of working Americans,' Gordon said. 'The government is quietly federalizing law enforcement, beginning in D.C., which will undoubtedly spread through the rest of our country.' Gordon said that AI and surveillance are spreading with little to no safeguards or restrictions put in place to protect the public. 'The resources stripped from us for one AI data center is astonishing, and they're popping up everywhere,' Gordon said. 'They sell it under the same old guise of public safety, then watch and laugh at the people as they ignorantly cheer on the things intended to replace and restrict them.' The people in power aren't Republicans or Democrats, they're friends, working on a common interest for themselves and the people who pay their salaries, which isn't U.S. taxpayers, Gordon said. 'They will be long gone, enjoying all they stole from us, while we're broke, fighting among ourselves, arguing about today's topic, unable to pay rent, unable to buy food, unable to afford life while being tracked and surveilled, wishing we'd have flipped the board a while ago,' Gordon said. What you said In a poll on TDP's website, readers were asked: 'Do you believe there was Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and who was behind it?' The answer that got the most votes was, 'Barack Obama and his allies,' with 36.5%; 31.1% answered, 'Putin and Trump and their allies;' 9.5% voted 'Vladimir Putin only;' and 9.5% voted, 'no one; there was no meddling.' Solve the daily Crossword
