Suspect in Providence shooting died after turning the gun on himself, police say
A 23-year-old man who police say killed two people in south Charlotte in the early hours of Sunday morning has died.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police on Monday identified John James Bocek as the suspect in the double-murder, which took place on Glen Abbey Way just before 4 a.m. Sunday.
Bocek broke into the back door and, once in the home, shot and killed 51-year-old Matthew Allen Chaplin and 15-year-old Jenna Elizabeth Hewitt, CMPD officials said during a news conference Monday. He then turned the gun on himself before police arrived, according to detectives.
Chaplin and Hewitt were still alive inside the home when police arrived, but medics “were unable to save them,” CMPD Maj. Cam Selvey of the CMPD Homicide Unit said Monday.
Bocek, who was also found inside the home, later died at the hospital Sunday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to CMPD. Investigators said Monday they were not prepared to say where or how he got the gun used in the shooting. Bocek is a convicted felon, court records show, and possession of a firearm by a felon is illegal.
CMPD detectives said Monday they believe Bocek knew Matthew Chaplin’s daughter, a 16-year-old. Police had, just a week before the shooting, attained arrest warrants for Bocek after learning he had physically assaulted the 16-year-old girl and taken her phone, according to CMPD.
The warrants previously accused Bocek of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, which was alleged to have happened at the Chaplin home. But CMPD officials said officers were unable to find Bocek last week to arrest him and they said he was not located at his last known address.
Hewitt, the 15-year-old, was a guest at the house on Sunday when the shooting occurred, Selvey said.
After Bocek forced his way into the home and shot the two people, the 16-year-old resident escaped from the home and ran to a neighbor’s house and called 911, according to CMPD.
Police are labeling the shooting as a domestic violence case. However, CMPD officials said at a news conference that they are early in the investigation and they would not say if Bocek was targeting the teen he shot, or if they any kind of relationship.
Selvey described Bocek as having “issues.”
“I’ll be honest, with somebody who does something like this, there’s no telling what was in that man’s mind,” Selvey said at a news conference. “With someone who had the issues that Mr. Bocek was apparently afflicted with, I can’t begin to comment on what was in that man’s brain.”
Selvey added: “I can’t imagine what these families are going through.”
Matthew Chaplin’s oldest daughter, Zoe, spoke to the Charlotte Observer by phone Monday afternoon from Raleigh, where she lives. She said the family also experienced a great loss almost three years ago when their mother died unexpectedly.
“My father loved my little sister and I (love) my little sister more than anything in the world,” Zoe Chaplin said.
Zoe Chaplin said she did not want to discuss publicly details of the shooting but added that both she and her sister attended school in Charlotte.
Their father, she said, “was extremely proud.”
Bocek lived in Indian Trail, N.C., according to public records and information from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office website showing past arrests. Criminal court records show Bocek pleaded guilty in January 2018 to assault on a female and cyberstalking.
Public records indicate Bocek had previously been convicted of a felony and was subsequently found guilty of violating probation in 2014. Since 2011, Bocek had multiple arrests in Mecklenburg and Union counties but public records show many of the charges were dismissed or reduced to result in Bocek being sentenced to community service. At the time of his death and the shooting, several criminal cases against Bocek were pending, including possession of marijuana, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon, public records show.
This story was originally published February 25, 2019 at 11:37 AM.