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Facebook Live shooting: Suspect in custody after killing caught on video

By Greg Suskin and Ken Lemon, WSOCTV.com
By Greg Suskin and Ken Lemon, WSOCTV.com

WINGATE, N.C. — UPDATE: Douglas Colson, the suspect in the Facebook Live killing, is reportedly in police custody after turning himself in.

ORIGINAL STORY: Police have identified and are searching for a suspect after a man was shot to death Monday morning in Wingate, North Carolina, while streaming on Facebook Live, authorities said.

STORY: Man shot to death while broadcasting on Facebook Live

>> PHOTOS: Police investigate deadly shooting in Wingate

Officials with Union County Emergency Medical Services said the shooting happened about 10 a.m. Monday on Jerome Street in Wingate, just a few streets from the Police Department.

Authorities identified the victim as 55-year-old Prentis Robinson and said the suspected shooter is Douglas Colson, 65.

Colson is still on the run, wanted on a murder charge, police said.

Robinson, an Atlanta musician, was seen Monday morning on a Facebook Live complaining about a family member stealing one of his three cellphones.

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Viewers of his Facebook Live could see him stopping at the Wingate Police Department to report the theft. After he left the Police Department, he walked up a hill toward his home on Booker Street.

A short time later, Robinson exchanged a few words with another man who suddenly appeared, and then there was gunfire.

Wingate Police Chief Donnie Gay was at a loss for words after the shooting, noting that it happened moments after Robinson left the police station.

"I'd just spoke to him, it was, I just ... it's hard to say anything about that. I just got through talking to him," Gay said.

Robinson was found facedown in the street and was pronounced dead at the scene.

WSOC-TV spoke to Charles Baker, who knew Robinson for more than 30 years. He couldn't believe that someone could just shoot and kill his friend.

"That just unreal. For somebody to have that kind of heart to just walk out in the open like that and kill a man, that's just, it's nonsense," Baker said.

The deadly shooting caused a lockdown at Wingate University, which is less than a mile from the scene. Wingate Elementary School was also placed on lockdown.

No shots were fired on campus but it left students, teachers and staff members on edge.

Celestia Randolph told WSOC-TV that she and other students huddled in a teacher's office during the lockdown.

Victoria Shoaf saw police in bulletproof gear with rifles outside her dorm window.

"I just prayed 'cause that's the only thing I could do," Shoaf said.

Wingate University tweeted that police said Colson is armed with a long gun.

Wingate police said the Union County Sheriff's Office and the State Bureau of Investigations are assisting with the investigation.

University officials set up counselors for students who needed to talk about the lockdown and the fear they experienced when they believed there was an imminent threat.

 

Cox Media Group

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