🚨NO WHITE SUPREMACISTS INVOLVED🚨
🚨NO ISLAMIC JIHADISTS INVOLVED🚨
WCNC published June 4, 2025: Suspects charged in Catawba County mass shooting investigation, more arrests expected.
One person was killed and 11 people were injured in a shooting at a house party in Catawba County.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, while two others remain wanted. Additional arrests are expected.
WSOCTV9 published June 4, 2025: 2 wanted in mass shooting at house party in Catawba County. Two of the suspects in a mass shooting at a Catawba County house party are still on the loose.
Queen City News published June 4, 2025: 2 more arrested, 2 others sought in Catawba Co. mass shooting investigation. Catawba County officials say Sunday's mass shooting investigation has been one of the most complex investigations they've ever been part of.
Queen City News published June 2, 2025: Catawba County shooting victim remembered. Queen City News is learning new details about the investigation into a mass shooting at a Catawba County home that killed one person and injured 11 others.
WCNC NBC News, Charlotte, NC local
written by Erika Williams, Nathaniel Puente, Jesse Pierre
Sunday June 1, 2025
HICKORY, N.C. — One person was killed and 11 people were injured in a shooting at a house party in Catawba County.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, while two others remain wanted. Additional arrests are expected.
Garon Nathaniel Killian, 20, of Lenoir, was charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder, the sheriff's office announced on Tuesday. He was given a $200,000 bond in a Wednesday court hearing.
On Wednesday, authorities announced that more suspects were charged. Ke'andre O'Neal Mack, 19, and Toland Huff Jr. are charged with attempted first-degree murder. Raekwon Malik Craig, 21, and Patrick Lee Tolbert, 22, are charged with aiding and abetting a person under 21 years of age by allowing the possession of alcoholic beverages. Officials say these charges are connected to Craig and Tolbert planning the party where the shooting happened.
Craig and Tolbert were arrested on Wednesday. Mack and Huff remain wanted.
Since the shooting on Sunday, investigators have said they believe there were multiple shooters.
The deadly shooting happened at around 12:45 a.m. Sunday at 1125 Walnut Acres Drive in the Mountain View area of southwest Catawba County.
The gunfire erupted at a large, organized pool party in the Walnut Acres community, an event that was promoted on social media and drew a crowd of about 100 people. There was also an admission fee to get in before the night turned chaotic.
“In my experience, this is a complicated scene. It spans several separate individual pieces of property... larger than 2 acres," Aaron Turk, a major with the Catawba County Sheriff's Office, said. “More than 80 shots were fired.”
The deceased victim was identified as Shawn Hood, 58, of Lenoir. Investigators believe he may have played a role in organizing or promoting the event. The victims are between the ages of 16 and 58.
Some of those injured suffered gunshot wounds while others were injured fleeing the gunshots, according to officials. One person remains hospitalized with all the others having been released from medical care, the FBI field office in Charlotte confirmed on Tuesday.
“It appears that the shooting started from an elevated position, from a neighbor’s yard,” said Major Turk. “And persons that attended the pool party were also armed. And there were shots fired from those people as well… Whether they were direct return of fire, I can't confirm as I stand here... but both sides of that situation were shooting.”
Officials said that about 90 minutes before the shooting, law enforcement officers had first visited the house because of a noise complaint.
“We don’t believe that this was random... it seems to be that those that initiated the shooting were focused on the folks at the party," Turk explained.
Deputies believe more than one person fired weapons during the shooting.
Turk said Tuesday it appeared there was an exchange of gunfire coming from both inside the party and outside the party. Killian is accused of firing shots from outside the party back toward the crowd.
Killian was previously arrested in Hickory for another shooting. Police said he and another person reportedly fired into a crowd in a parking lot near a Chuck E. Cheese franchise in April 2025.
More than 70 people have been interviewed by investigators.
The FBI and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) are assisting in the investigation. Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) is also involved, looking into reports of underage drinking and whether any laws were broken by those organizing the party.
“These people’s lives have been changed forever... it’s memories that are going to affect them for the rest of their lives," Catawba County Sheriff Don Brown said. “We are going to work together tirelessly and diligently to identify the individuals responsible for this act.”
Authorities are asking people who live in the area of Highway 127, Huffman Farm Road, Pittstown Road, and Bethel Church Road to send camera footage to the Catawba County Sheriff's Office or the FBI.
The FBI announced Monday it is offering a $15,000 reward for information that leads to the identification, arrest and prosecution of suspects in the shooting, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Catawba County Sheriff's Office at 828-464-3112 or upload video and photos to a newly established FBI website. The FBI noted on Tuesday it had executed multiple search warrants but did not release any additional details.
“I have full confidence in their abilities and that they will hold and bring the people responsible to justice," District Attorney Scott Riley said.
A multi-agency investigation is currently underway, with sheriff's investigators working alongside Hickory Police Department investigators and Special Agents from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Hickory is roughly 60 miles northwest of Charlotte.
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