1 dead, 6 hurt in overnight mass shooting in Anson County

WADESBORO, N.C. — A block party turned into the site of a mass shooting in Wadesboro early Sunday morning, with one person dead and six injured.

Officers with the Wadesboro Police Department went to a shots fired call around 1:56 a.m. at North Wadesboro Grocery on North Green Street, where witnesses told police a block party was being held.

At the scene, officers found one victim who was pronounced dead at the scene, as well as six victims who were taken to the hospital. The department has not released any information about the identities of the victims.

The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), Alcohol Law Enforcement, and surrounding regional agencies are helping investigate.

Channel 9′s veteran crime reporter, Glenn Counts, got to North Green Street just as SBI was finishing processing the scene.

Officers say the shooting happened in the parking lot of a convenience store. Bullets hit several cars in the store’s parking lot as well as cars parked across the street. Mason Melleasy was at the party when the shots rang out and had to rush to safety.

“Yeah, it was a lot of shots going past my head,” Melleasy told Counts. “I was worried, very, very worried.”

Police told Counts that the victim in the shooting was in his early 20s and had just become a dad. Melleasy, a friend of the victim, said the world lost a good man.

“He was a good person; he was a good person. Things just went left.” Melleasy said,

Counts spoke to the convenience store owner, who was upset about the entire situation. He said no one had permission to be on his property.

Doletha Powell and her sister, Terry Diggs, live across from the Wadesboro store where the party was held. While they didn’t see anything, they could hear the gunshots, but Sunday morning’s incident isn’t sending these residents anywhere.

“We stay in; this is a good neighborhood over here, and that store is a good store,” Diggs said.

Late on Sunday, officers with the Wadesboro Police Department shared the conditions of the victims who were taken to the hospital. At this time, five of the six victims are still being treated at the hospital, two are in critical condition, three are in stable condition, and one victim was treated and released from the hospital.

The department is asking anyone with information about the shooting to call.

This is a developing story; check back at wsoctv.com for updates.

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