Mount Olive man murdered
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on July 8, 2007 2:01 AM
MOUNT OLIVE -- A Mount Olive man was killed Friday evening in a shooting local law enforcement officers are now calling a murder.
Police Chief Emmett Ballree said an investigation into the death of Julius Troublefield Jr., a 38-year-old Center Street resident, is still under way.
"We got the call at about 11:40. There were shots being fired on Daly Boulevard at an apartment complex on the south side of town," Ballree said. "When officers arrived, there was a large crowd of people. They saw a victim lying on the sidewalk."
Wayne County Sheriff's Office officers also responded to the scene.
But Troublefield, who Ballree added had appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound, was already dead by the time emergency responders arrived.
No murder weapon has been found and police are still waiting on the results of the autopsy performed Saturday to verify the cause of death.
Ballree said several suspects have been identified and that there are indications that there was more than one shooter.
Troublefield was likely an "innocent bystander," he added, someone who got caught in crossfire.
"We don't have an exact motive but we think the shooting was a result of ongoing trouble between two groups of people," Ballree said.
The State Bureau of Investigation has been contacted and will likely assist the Mount Olive Police Department during the remainder of the investigation.