Man arrested in shooting deaths of two motorcycle riders on NC highway

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. — A suspect in the shooting deaths of two motorcyclists and the wounding of third in North Carolina has been taken into custody in Kentucky, a sheriff said Tuesday.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told a news conference Tuesday afternoon that Kentucky State Police had taken Martin Calvin Cox Jr. into custody without incident. Page had neither an age nor an address for Cox, but said it was believed he lived in the area.

Page said Cox is charged with murder. He is being held in the Bullitt County Jail pending his return to North Carolina. The sheriff said his office worked on the case with authorities in Kentucky as well state and federal law enforcement.

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The sheriff’s office said the shootings occurred on the U.S. Highway 29 bypass in Reidsville near N.C. Highway 14 on Monday. Page said investigators believe the victims were targeted by the suspect, but he provided no additional details.

Lt. Kevin Suthard said in a news release that the investigators believe the shots were fired from a red Dodge dually pickup truck, which the sheriff said had been recovered.

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A dual rear-wheel truck -- often referred to as a dually -- is described by J.D. Power as a heavy-duty pickup truck with two rear wheels on each side.

At an earlier news conference, Page said the shooting victims were targeted. The three victims were traveling on two motorcycles, according to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff said that at the advice of the district attorney, the identities of the victims won’t be released out of concern for the safety of the surviving victim and the families of those involved.

Motorists alerted authorities at around 4:45 p.m. that two victims were lying along the roadway, Suthard said in the news release. Deputies and other first responders located a third victim shortly after reaching the scene, the news release said. Page told the news conference that the surviving shooting victim was treated at the scene and released.

Page said the investigation is ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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