ROSE HILL — A Wallace man has been charged with dozens of offenses related to shootings in Sampson and Duplin counties Monday night, in which at least one person was injured, according to information from sheriff’s officials.
In the late-night hours Monday, deputies responded to 2723 Herring Road, Rose Hill, located off U.S. 421 (Delway Highway) north of Harrells, in reference to a shooting into an occupied dwelling.
Upon deputies’ arrival, one shooting victim was identified and transported immediately by Sampson County EMS to receive treatment. The victims’ injuries were described as non-life threatening, but the victim’s name is being withheld pending further investigation, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.
Marcelle Williams, 32, of 283 Iron Mine Road, Wallace, later turned himself in to the magistrate’s office in Clinton, where officers with the Clinton Police Department took him into custody until deputies could arrive. It was later learned that the suspect had also been involved earlier in the evening in a shooting incident in Duplin County.
Williams was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, 23 counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property in Sampson County and similar charges from the incident in Duplin County, including an attempted murder charge.
Witnesses in the Herring Road shooting reported to deputies that around 11:15 p.m. Monday they were watching television when they heard several gunshots. They immediately called 911. Initial sheriff’s reports indicate that the victim, reportedly a 58-year-old male of the home, was sleeping at the time when he was shot.
Damage inflicted to a Nissan Frontier was estimated at $8,000, reports state. No further information was released by investigators and the motive for the incident is still under investigation.
Williams’ bond was set at $1 million — $650,000 from Sampson County and $350,000 for charges out of Duplin.
Sheriff Jimmy Thornton praised officers from both counties who worked around the clock.
“I applaud investigators, deputies and other agencies involved for their hard work in this incident,” the sheriff stated. “Many of these investigators worked all day and were called out to work this incident where they spent most of the night and into the early morning hours processing this crime scene.”