3 dead, including suspect, after victims tied up in home invasion

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A man in Iredell County caused a night of violence, binding and killing several people in a home before barricading himself with several children, deputies say.

The night began when deputies were called to Home Drive near Bailey Road on Saturday after a neighbor reported they heard gunshots.

Channel 9′s veteran crime reporter Glenn Counts spoke with a neighbor who said she saw three men in ski masks go into the home before hearing the violence.

“It just did all happen kinda fast. A white SUV pulled in, went all the way down the road and came back, backed in to the driveway,” she explained. “Three men jumped out, they had ski masks on, their faces weren’t seen, they were in there for about 15 minutes, we heard 3 loud bangs, and then they bolted out of the house with ski masks on.”

When deputies got to the house, they found two people dead inside and a third person with a gunshot wound on the back porch.

All of the victims were found restrained and bound.

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The immediate investigation led deputies to a home on Ostwalt Amity Road, where the suspect, Justin Michael Strawser, barricaded himself in the home and started shooting at deputies with a rifle.

Deputies surrounded the home and tried to get Strawser out of the house. There, they learned that 4 children were inside the house.

The night-long situation involved multiple shots at deputies every time they tried to get him out of the house. Strawser made statements to the negotiators about his involvement in the shooting on Home Drive.

Night of violence involves bound victims, children gassed from home and a dead suspect

Officials resorted to gassing the house to try and get him out after negotiations failed. The children got out of the house followed by the suspect who was shooting at police as he left.

Deputies shot and killed Strawser, who was wearing a bulletproof vest.

No one else was physically hurt.

The murder victims were identified as Eduardo Cordova, 22, and Caleb Loper, 24. Deputies say they knew Strawser, and they believe drugs and robbery may have been a motive.

It’s unclear whether the other suspects have been identified.

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