More details released about Statesville murder-suicide case

STATESVILLE, N.C. — Police are sharing more information about a murder-suicide investigation that began last week in a Statesville neighborhood.

The Statesville Police Department said around 7:15 a.m. on Friday, they were called to Bunker Hill Lane for a shooting. When officers arrived, they found 26-year-old Simone Octavia Williams, who has been shot to death on the front porch of the 911 caller’s home.

Neighbor Larry McCorkle told Channel 9 last week that he woke up Friday morning to one of the victims banging on his door. He said the shooter followed her over and shot her outside the door.

“By the time I got to the door, my wife was opening the door and I could hear her screaming, ‘please don’t do that, please don’t do that. And then I could hear two shots fired and see the suspect going back across the yard,” he told Faherty.

Investigators said the shooter, identified by witnesses as 39-year-old Nicholas Goolsby, went back to his home on the same street after shooting Williams.

With help from the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force, officers surrounded Goolsby’s home and used a search robot when they got inside.

A 10-month-old was found on the first floor of the home, Statesville police said. They were able to get the baby safely out of the home and they are now in the family’s care.

The robot then found two bodies in an upstairs bedroom. They were later identified as the bodies of the shooter and of 36-year-old Brandi Delia Goolsby, who also lived there. Investigators later determined Williams also lived at the home.

Detectives believe Nicholas Goolsby shot Brandi Goolsby before taking his own life.

“The Statesville Police Department extends its condolences to the Goolsby and Williams family members during this difficult time,” police said in a statement.

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Man killed after shootout with officers, police say

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