A North Carolina father gunned down the driver who fatally struck his son as the family was walking down the road after their car ran out of gas, according to the local sheriff’s office.
Shortly before 6:30 a.m. Monday, a mom, dad and juvenile son were walking along Dink Ashley Road, near the community of Timberlake, North Carolina, the Person County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to local media that afternoon.
While heading toward their home on foot, a driver ran over the 17-year-old son, killing him, Sheriff Jason Wilborn said.
The driver, identified as Jeffrey McKay, stopped after hitting the teenager and called 911 around 6:30 a.m. to report the incident, Wilborn said. At some point, the teen’s father pulled out a gun and fatally shot McKay at the scene before tossing the weapon in a pond and fleeing, leaving his deceased son and mortally wounded McKay on the side of the road, Wilborn said. It is unclear if McKay was shot while on the 911 call.
The father, identified as 41-year-old Chad Woods, has been charged with second-degree murder, the sheriff said. It was unknown at the time of publication whether he had retained an attorney. The teen’s mother was not named in local reports and is not facing any charges, according to media citing the sheriff’s office.
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Newsweek reached out via email and Facebook to the Person County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
McKay was driving a North Carolina Department of Adult Correction vehicle when he struck the teen, local outlet WNCN reports. He was transported to a nearby hospital but died from his injuries, the sheriff’s office said.
Factors leading up to the fatal crash, including speed and road conditions, were unknown at the time of publication. The sheriff’s office is investigating the crash and shooting. Details about the teenage victim were not made public.
After the shooting, Woods and the teen’s mother fled the scene in McKay’s vehicle, leaving their deceased child behind, Wilborn said.
Deputies located the stolen vehicle at the family’s home where they arrested Woods on charges of second-degree murder and larceny of a motor vehicle.
Woods later told investigators that he threw the gun used in the shooting in a nearby pond, according to the sheriff, who added that deputies searched for the weapon using K-9s and a dive team but had to end the search shortly after noon due to hot temperatures. Wilborn said the search will continue Tuesday.
Patti Elliott, a woman who witnessed the crash and shooting, told local outlet WRAL that she was in shock, saying she thinks the “world is going crazy.”
“The person driving the truck, he was trying to do the right thing, but in the process, he gets shot and killed for it,” Elliott said.
Lawrence Clayborn, Woods’ father, told local outlet WTVD that his son was distraught over the ordeal.
“He was just out of it, going off and stuff,” Clayborn said. “He was going, ‘He just killed my son. He killed my son.'”
Woods is scheduled to appear in court on August 21, according to the sheriff’s office.
