A 29-year-old Sampson County man has been identified as the victim of an early evening shooting on Sylvia Lane, and investigators are now working to find a motive and the person responsible for the death.

Neither, said Capt. Eric Pope Wednesday afternoon, has been determined yet as officers continue to interview witnesses and piece together what occurred at 17 Sylvia Lane.

James Ray Carr was killed by an unknown assailant as he stood in the front yard of his home, just after 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Because it was dark, foggy and misty, officers have very little suspect information to go on, but they do know that Carr was in front of his residence when a man pulled up to the mobile home, got out of his vehicle and opened fire, striking the victim at least once before fleeing the scene.

“We don’t have a motive and we don’t know what kind of weapon it was,” Pope stressed. “Our suspect information is very limited, too, due to the visibility conditions at the time of the incident.”

The suspect is described only as a large-frame black male driving a small passenger vehicle.

Although the shooting occurred outside and in a mobile home park, just off Taylors Bridge Highway, it was dark and foggy, and some of the homes in the area are abandoned. A family member, Pope said, lived next door.

Witnesses, a press release about the shooting indicated, were unable to provide detailed information.

Officers and EMS workers were called to the scene around 7:30 p.m. When they arrived, they found a family member performing CPR on Carr in the front yard of the residence. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators from the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office and the NC State Bureau of Investigation are currently processing evidence and interviewing witnesses in an attempt to identify a possible suspect.

An autopsy Pope said, would also be performed.

“Our detectives are working virtually round the clock on this. We just don’t have a lot to go on at this time.”

Further information, the sheriff’s captain said, would be released as it was gathered.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office at 910-592-4141.