Suspect sought in county shooting
By From staff reports
Published in News on November 4, 2012 1:50 AM
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Phillip Xavier Armwood
MOUNT OLIVE -- Police have secured a warrant for a man wanted in connection with a Thursday drive-by shooting in which a victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
The suspect, Phillip Xavier Armwood, 24, who has addresses in Mount Olive and Goldsboro, has an extensive criminal history and gang affiliations. Armwood should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Also known as "Lil' Phil," "Phil" and "Tawana's boy," Armwood, a black male, is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. He has a tattoo on his right forearm "Phil," both hands, and others on both hands and on his right bicep.
The shooting occurred Thursday in the 300 block of Oliver Street where a man and woman were fired upon.
The man, Montrall Anthony Sloan, 29, of Mount Olive, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Sloan was last listed in critical condition and on a ventilator at Vidant Hospital in Greenville.
The woman, Dequanna Cogdell, who is in her 30s, was not injured.
"They were just two friends walking down the street," Detective Sgt. C.J. Weaver said. "We are still working on a motive."
The two victims and the suspect all know each other, Weaver said.
According to police, Armwood was the passenger in a small white two-door car and was seen with a handgun at the time of the incident.
Both Sloan and Ms. Cogdell fled and hid, Weaver said. She just did a better job of hiding, he added.
Sloan ran around two houses over to Maple Street where he came upon a T.A. Loving Co. work crew that was working on the town's water lines.
"He ran up on the (mound of) dirt, jumped across the hole and had the hole and mound between him and the suspect," Weaver said. "He told them, 'I am shot. Call 911.'"
The workers, who had heard the shots, told Sloan they already had called 911.
Anyone having information about the incident or the whereabouts of Armwood is encouraged to call the Mount Olive Police Department at 919-658-5031 or the Wayne/Goldsboro Crime Stoppers at 919-735-2255.
Emails may be sent to cweaver@townofmountolivenc.com.