Police believe man killed mother, friend in car before dying by suicide in Gaston Co.

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Gaston County police believe a man killed his own mother and a friend before dying by suicide inside a car near Dallas Monday afternoon.

Authorities responded to the shooting at about 3:15 p.m. on Robinson-Clemmer Road and Briarwood Drive, according to Gaston County Emergency Medical Services.

Initial reports indicated that the shooting and car crash happened before 1:30 p.m., police said. A social media post at 1:50 p.m. showed the car that had crashed in the yard. No one reported anything to the police until 3:13 p.m., according to police.

Officials said the car that was in a yard was still running when officers got to the scene. Two men and a woman were found shot to death inside it.

“There were three decedents in the vehicle,” said Chief Joseph D. Ramey, of the Gaston County Police Department. “All deceased from gunshot wounds.”

Investigators said the back seat passenger, David James Bright, 34, of Kings Mountain, allegedly shot the driver, Darlene Hardin, 57, also of Kings Mountain, and the front-seat passenger, Benjamin Barett Simmons, 65, of Gastonia. Bright died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Bullet holes were also in the driver’s window.

(Left: David James Bright; Top Right: Darlene Hardin; Bottom Right: Benjamin Barett Simmons)

Family members told Channel 9′s Ken Lemon that Simmons needed to go to Charlotte and that his former co-worker and good friend Bright wanted to give him a ride. Bright’s mother, Hardin, then offered to drive since her son didn’t have a driver’s license and she didn’t want him to get a traffic ticket.

According to family members, they were all supposed to be headed to Charlotte when police believe Bright pulled out a gun while sitting in the back seat, shooting Hardin and Simmons before dying by suicide.

Dorothy Hardin, Darlene Hardin’s mother, said her daughter and grandson were very close and can’t understand why he might have killed her. The entire family lived next to each other and saw each other daily.

She also said Bright and his girlfriend recently broke up and that he sought mental health help afterward, but that lately, he seemed fine.

“Have them here one day, and the next day they are gone forever. (We’ll) never see them again,” she said. “It’s hard for us to accept that he would do something like that.”

Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over the scene, where multiple police cars and officers were investigating.

“To ride down here and see all this blocked off, especially on top of my street down there, it’s kind of a little shocking,” neighbor Shelton Camp said.

This is an ongoing investigation. At this point, police told Lemon that there is no motive for the shooting that they know.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

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