The son of a pair killed in a suspected triple homicide held the alleged shooter at gunpoint till police arrived, based on reviews
On Monday, Jan. 13, David Lever, 55, of Greenville, North Carolina, made his first courtroom look after the Pitt County Sheriff’s Workplace confirmed he’d been arrested and charged with three open counts of homicide in a Saturday, Jan. 11 launch posted on Instagram.
This adopted a Friday, Jan. 10 name to “an lively investigation involving 4 totally different crime scenes” the place three grownup victims had been discovered deceased from gunshot wounds, the discharge added.
Police have since recognized the victims as husband and spouse Anthony Gribble, 80, and Paula Gribble, 76; and Enrique Reyes, 64, all of Greenville.
Pitt County Detention Heart
Pitt County Sheriff, Paula Dance, instructed reporters at a information convention on Monday morning that if the son of the aged couple hadn’t held Lever at gunpoint, extra individuals would have probably died, per WITN.
“The investigation of those instances leads us to imagine there would have been further victims had a member of the family of the victims not intervened till our deputies had been in a position to arrive,” Dance mentioned, per the outlet.
Investigators “discovered not less than 50 weapons” within the suspect’s house, in addition to “quite a lot of ammunition in his van,” based on WTVD.
Dance offered a timeline of Friday’s occasions on Monday, claiming that Reyes, who lived on the identical street as Lever, had visited a Meals Lion at round 1:20 p.m. native time earlier than heading house to his Forrest Acres Drive handle, per ABC-affiliated native station WCTI.
Lever was reportedly seen leaving his personal property at round 1:28 p.m., earlier than he allegedly fired gunshots “as he left a Speedway fuel station on NC 43 North, heading in direction of Peace Ridge Court docket,” the outlet acknowledged. The Pitt County Sheriff’s Workplace obtained calls in regards to the gunshots a couple of minute later.
Peace Ridge Court docket is the place the Gribbles lived, per the police launch.
Authorities reportedly obtained calls about Paula and Tony Gribble’s loss of life at round 2:17 p.m., earlier than officers obtained one other name concerning a house invasion at one other property and gunshots at round 2:50 p.m., the publication reported.
Dance instructed reporters that Lever had been linked to this crime as properly. Nonetheless, the property was unoccupied, the outlet acknowledged.
“Let me provide my condolences to the household and mates of all of the victims,” Dance mentioned, per WITN.
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The outlet acknowledged that police did not know of a connection between Lever and Reyes, who is assumed to have been the primary individual shot, however Lever was reportedly the Gribbles’ realtor once they bought their house again in 2014.
Lever’s subsequent courtroom date is scheduled for Jan. 29, per the publication.
Dance did not instantly reply when contacted by PEOPLE for extra updates.