Couple bound, blindfolded, kidnapped and shot at by group, North Carolina deputies say

Mark Price
·2 min read
1

A couple visiting an acquaintance early Tuesday reports they were kidnapped, bound and shot at while lying helpless on the ground, according to the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office.

Austin Clay Colley, 24, of Hickory, was hit twice in the torso by gunfire, deputies said in a news release. He was listed in stable condition Wednesday at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, officials said.

His girlfriend, Angela Nicole Kidd, 35, escaped injury, officials said.

Eight people have been arrested and charged in the case, the sheriff’s office reported Wednesday.

Investigators say they learned of the incident around 9 a.m. Tuesday, after the couple walked into the emergency room at Caldwell Memorial Hospital in Lenoir. The city is about 75 miles northwest of Uptown Charlotte.

Colley told deputies he and Kidd “were at a residence of an acquaintance” early that morning when they were attacked by a group of people, then bound and blindfolded, according to the release.

“After some time, several of the individuals place(d) him and his girlfriend into a vehicle and transported them to another location where he and his girlfriend were placed on the ground,” officials said.

“The individuals fired multiple shots at him and his girlfriend. He indicated he was hit with gunfire.”

Angela Kidd told deputies the two waited until the group left the area, then “she walked to a nearby road (and) flagged down a car that transported them to the Caldwell Memorial Hospital,” officials said.

The alleged kidnapping took place at 4330 Joplin Road in Hudson, and the shooting occurred about 10 miles northwest at “an abandoned property on Hood’s Creek Road,” according to the release.

“Deputies with the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant at 4330 Joplin Road and detained all subjects that were at the location,” officials said.

“A search of the location revealed further items and a firearm that corroborated the statements of Colley and Kidd. Investigators conducted interviews with all occupants that were at 4330 Joplin Road and determined that all of the individuals acted in concert with the kidnappings and assaults.”

The sheriff’s office identified four suspects as:

  • Bobby Dean Bowlin, 50

  • Hunter Dean Aungst, 20

  • Elka Mackenna James, 20

  • Anthony Scott Bumgarner, 36

They were charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, attempted murder, and first degree kidnapping. Each has a bond of $300,000, officials said.

In addition, four others were charged with first degree kidnapping, officials said:

  • Tabitha Renee Bumgarner, 36

  • Adam Solis Hernandez, 23

  • Devan Alan Souther, 18

  • Tristan Douglas Coffey, 22

Each has a bond of $100,000, according to the release.