Two teens die Monday
By John Joyce
Published in News on January 14, 2014 1:46 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders, left, looks on as investigators fill him in on the details surrounding the deaths of two Rosewood High School students near the Little River Bridge on Capps Bridge Road Monday.
The Rosewood community is grieving today after two Rosewood High School students died from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Investigators with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office say Spenser Terry Garrison, 16, of Ash Landing in Goldsboro, placed a phone call to a friend Monday afternoon saying where he was going to be. He then shot himself in his truck while parked alongside the Little River Bridge on Capps Bridge Road sometime before 3 p.m., they said.
Upon discovery of his body, Malia K. Porter, 15, of Kalmia Place in Pikeville, became distraught and turned the weapon on herself, investigators said.
The victims were boyfriend and girlfriend, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Deputies were called to the scene at about 3:30 p.m. Once on scene, first responders found both victims, each with a single gunshot wound.
EMS workers pronounced Garrison dead at the scene.
Ms. Porter was taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital, then flown to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville. She died there shortly after midnight.
Investigators pored over the scene at the bridge Monday, interviewing witnesses and passers-by who had stopped their vehicles and called for help.
As the details began to come together, a crowd gathered down the road from the scene.
Word spread over social media networks Facebook and Twitter.
Late Monday evening, an impromptu vigil unfolded outside the school, where teachers, parents and friends shared in each other's sorrow.
Crisis counselors were on hand at the school today to help students cope with the tragedy.