2 workers dead, 2 others hurt after shooting at public building in NC, officials say
Two people died and two others, including a police officer, were hurt after a shooting at a public works building in North Carolina, officials say.
It happened Friday morning at the Joycelyn V. Johnson Municipal Services Center in Winston-Salem, the city’s police department said in a news conference streamed by WFMY and other news outlets.
Terry Lee Cobb Jr., 48, appears to have been the “primary target” of the workplace shooting, Police Chief Catrina Thompson said.
Police say he was shot and killed by a coworker, Steven Dewayne Haizlip, 61.
“The information we’re receiving is these two gentlemen had a long-standing dislike for each other,” Capt. Steven Tollie said Friday afternoon.
Officers encountered Hazlip outside of the building, and he was killed in the ensuing “gunfight,” Thompson said.
Sgt. Cameron Stewart Sloan, a 22-year veteran of the Winston-Salem Police Department, was struck twice and is recovering at a hospital, according to officials.
Another person, who police didn’t publicly identify, had a non-life-threatening injury, Thompson said.
Mayor Allen Joines on Facebook said city leaders were “deeply saddened” by “the tragic event.”
“We remain dedicated to continuing to ensure that all city employees have a safe and secure work place,” he said, according to the post on the city’s Facebook page.
Police early Friday called the scene “stable” and said there wasn’t a danger to the public, multiple news outlets reported.
The municipal building houses Winston-Salem’s sanitation services, which officials said would be delayed Friday.
Herbert Martinez was in the parking lot at about 7 a.m. when his coworker told him there was a shooter inside the building, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
That’s when Martinez heard gunfire and hid with his coworker, he told the newspaper.
Per protocol, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident, police say.
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 9:58 AM.
