Minister shot and killed days after he was ordained in North Carolina, friends say
A North Carolina minister who spoke out against violence was shot and killed days after he was ordained, friends say.
Robert Booth, 25, had also recently proposed to his girlfriend before his life was cut short this week, video he posted to Facebook shows.
“The thing that hurts me the most is we went from talking about wedding plans on Sunday to now his family is planning his funeral,” friend Brandon Smith told McClatchy News in a phone interview.
On Tuesday night, Smith said he was told his friend approached people wearing ski masks in his neighborhood.
“Trying to preach the word to the people and then they just shoot him anyway, I believe it’s sad,” neighbor Melissa Jones told WGHP.
High Point police said officers responded to gunfire on Ardale Drive and found Booth had been shot. First responders tried “life-saving measures” before Booth was rushed to a hospital, where he died.
He leaves behind a 2-year-old son, Smith said.
Police are investigating the shooting as a homicide and are looking for two suspects and a car seen leaving the scene, according to a news release. The vehicle was described as “possibly a burgundy Hyundai Santa Fe or Nissan Rogue.”
Booth is remembered as a pastor who was trying to stop people from shooting each other, his brother Dwayne Waden Jr. told WFMY. He started Hood Holiness Church of God and was ordained last week, when he also got engaged.
“You just shot and killed someone who was innocent, who was a father, who was a son, who was a pastor,” Smith told McClatchy News. “He has his congregation who (was) looking up to him and now you left everyone hanging.”
High Point police, which shared few details about the case in its news release, said Booth was 21.
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 1:04 PM.
