Violent home invasion in NC leaves 2 dead. Suspect dies in shoot-out with officers
A 911 call about shots fired in a rural neighborhood near Mooresville, North Carolina, led deputies to the bodies of two men who had been tied up and shot, and a third who was critically wounded, according to the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.
The killings are believed to be the result of a home invasion Saturday, March 8, in the 100 block of Home Drive, which is about 30 miles north of Charlotte.
Investigators suspect a motive for the home invasion may be “narcotics and robbery,” and that the victims and suspect knew each other, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “This was not a random home invasion,” the office said.
A suspect in the killings was tracked down about 7 miles away and he died during a gunfight with deputies, officials said.
A neighbor of the house on Home Drive told Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC-TV she saw three men in ski masks get out of a white SUV and go into the home. “They were in there for about 15 minutes, we heard three loud bangs and then they bolted out of the house with ski masks on,” the woman told the station.
“When the deputies arrived (at Home Drive), they located a critically injured victim on the back porch of the home and two deceased victims inside the residence. All three victims were found restrained and bound,” the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies and detectives quickly obtained information about a suspect, which led them to the 1500 block of Ostwalt Amity Road, authorities said. “When they approached the home, they were met by a man who pointed a gun at them and, barricaded himself inside the home, and began firing at the deputies with an AR-15 rifle.”
They later learned that the suspect, 39-year-old Justin Michael Strawser of Cleveland, NC, had four juveniles with him in his home, officials said. The four did not cooperate with deputies and refused attempts to rescue them, the sheriff’s office said.
During the next several hours, the deputies attempted many times to get Strawser to come out of the home, officials said. But each time, “he fired numerous rounds at the deputies from inside the home, striking several sheriff’s office vehicles.”
Strawser also made statements during the standoff “about his involvement in the incident,” the sheriff’s office said.
After negotiations failed, authorities said they deployed other tactics, including gas into the residence, which led to the juveniles fleeing the home. The suspect, wearing a bulletproof vest, then came out behind the juveniles, “firing his rifle at the deputies. The deputies returned fire, killing the suspect,” the sheriff’s office said.
Neither the juveniles nor deputies were hurt.
Shooting victims identified
The two men who died at the Home Drive site were identified as Eduardo Cordova, 22, of Mooresville, and Caleb Loper, 24, of Lincolnton, officials said. The identity of the man who was wounded has not been released. He remains hospitalized.
Three sheriff’s deputies have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure while the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation investigates the fatal shooting of Strawser.
The investigation is ongoing.
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