Captured: Police discover shooting suspect Kenneth Stancil III sleeping on a Florida beach
By John Joyce
Published in News on April 14, 2015 1:46 PM
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Kenneth Morgan Stancil III
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Investigators enter the front door of Kenneth Stancil III's home late Monday afternoon after receiving a warrant to search the trailer on Old Mount Olive Highway in Dudley for anything that could lead them to his whereabouts.
The manhunt for Kenneth Morgan Stancil III, 20, came to an end in Daytona Beach, Fla., early this morning when beach patrol officers discovered the suspected murderer sleeping on the beach at 1:20 a.m.
He had a knife in his possession.
Stancil is in custody in a Florida jail today, charged with the murder of Ron Dwight Lane Jr., 44. He is currently being held without bond in the Volusia County Branch Jail.
There is no word whether Stancil is cooperating with the investigation or if he has confessed to killing Lane.
"We are awaiting extradition," Goldsboro police Chief Jeff Stewart said.
Stewart said he was contacted at 1:20 a.m. by the Volusia County Beach Patrol and told Stancil had been apprehended.
"We were in contact with law enforcement agencies up and down the East Coast, especially those to the south, keeping tabs," Sgt. Jeremy Sutton said.
"We are waiting for him to be brought back so we can interview him," he said.
The arrest came less than 24 hours after Stancil shot and killed Lane, his former print shop supervisor. According to a Goldsboro Police report, Stancil -- armed with a shotgun -- climbed the back stairs to the third-floor print shop at Wayne Community College just after 8 a.m. Monday and shot Lane, killing him.
The Goldsboro Police Department would not confirm a motive for the murder, but college officials did say that Stancil was a one-time student at the college. He was in a work-study program supervised by Lane.
Stewart said after the shooting Stancil returned home, changed clothes and got on a motorcycle.
He rode as far as Lumberton before ditching the motorcycle and switching to an unknown mode of transportation.
"He removed the license plate and continued south. How, we do not know," Stewart said.
Hours later Stancil was discovered sleeping on a Florida beach and was taken into custody.
"Our officer did a well-being check on the subject and woke him up," Volusia County (Fla.) Beach Safety Ocean Rescue spokeswoman Tamra Marris said in an email, according to an Associated Press report. "Initially the subject had a knife on him and was ordered to put the knife down. The subject complied with the officer's orders and the subject was apprehended without incident."
A press conference detailing the arrest was scheduled for 11 a.m. today.
National media outlets turned their attention to Goldsboro Monday morning as Special Weapons and Tactics teams from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and the Johnston County Sheriff's Office converged on the campus of Wayne Community College. Stancil was thought to still be hiding somewhere in one of the buildings on campus. Students and faculty members barricaded themselves inside classrooms.
"We arrived on scene and, of course, Goldsboro Police Department had original jurisdiction, along with college police," Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce said.
"We coordinated through a unified command," he said.
Once he and the police department assessed the situation, and with his own SWAT team on its way, Pierce asked if nearby Johnston County Sheriff's Office's SWAT team -- equipped with an armored vehicle and mobile command post -- might be an asset.
Goldsboro police agreed, and Pierce made the call.
"I called the Sheriff (Steve) Bizzell and he said he'd be happy to help," Pierce said.
The N.C. State Highway Patrol, N.C. Forestry Service, the State Bureau of Investigation and several area law enforcement agencies responded to provide additional security and to help lock down the perimeter around the college, from New Hope Road to Wayne Memorial Drive.
"Wilson Police Department, Greenville Police Department -- we were inundated with people who wanted to help," Goldsboro police Chief Jeff Stewart said.
Stewart offered his condolences to the Lane family and commended the many law enforcement officers and agencies who pitched in Monday to help prevent the situation from escalating.
In the coming days, an after-action review will be conducted to see what worked and what could have been done better in response to the school shooting, he said. Overall, Stewart said he was pleased with the cohesive efforts of all those involved.
"Our No. 1 priority was to ensure the safety of the students, faculty and facilities," he said.