Shooting suspect arrested
By Staff Reports
Published in News on December 2, 2012 1:50 AM
A suspect wanted for the drive-by shooting of a Mount Olive man was arrested Thursday by Mount Olive Police officers and U.S. Marshal Service Eastern North Carolina Violent Fugitive Task Force agents at a residence in the Mar-Mac area south of Goldsboro after a four-week fugitive search, according to police Chief Brian Rhodes.
Phillip Xavier Armwood, 24, of 510 E. Pollock St., Mount Olive, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of malicious assault and one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill in the shooting of Montrall Anthony Sloan, 29, street address not available, of Mount Olive.
Armwood, who was taken into custody without incident at 610 Grantham Road at Mar-Mac, was placed under a $1,350,000 bond at the Wayne County Jail in Goldsboro.
Sloan was shot on Nov. 1 as he walked down the 300 block of East Oliver Street. He suffered critical injuries and was taken by Wayne County EMS to Wayne Memorial Hospital at Goldsboro. He was later transferred to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville where he was placed on a respirator, police said.
Rhodes said Sloan was released from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, but was hospitalized again shortly afterwards for a recurring ailment related to his injuries.
Armwood, who goes by the names of "Lil' Phil," "Phil" and "Tawana's Boy," had been considered armed and dangerous while police were searching for him, according to Rhodes.
The U.S. Marshal Service agents assisted local police because Armwood was originally from out of state, in New York, Rhodes noted.
Meanwhile, a motive for the shooting has not been determined, but Rhodes said Armwood and Sloan knew each other.
At the time of the shooting, Armwood was a passenger in a car when he fired a handgun at Sloan who was walking with a female who was not injured, police said.
Armwood has an extensive criminal record and is known to have gang affiliation, according to police.
Rhodes said local police Det. Hunter Martin and Sgt. C.J. Weaver had obtained warrants for the arrest of Armwood on the day of the shooting and police investigators had "worked extensively" on the case.
"These investigators worked diligently during the recent holiday and on their days off obtaining information and following leads and I commend them for their hard work during the fugitive search," Rhodes said. "I would also like to thank the U.S. Marshal Service Task Force agents, the Raleigh Police Department and the Wayne County's Sheriff's Office for all their assistance that led to the arrest. This is a fine example of inter-agency cooperation and the positive results it can produce."