04/27/17 — Jurors see video evidence from WCC the day Stancil killed Ron Lane

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Jurors see video evidence from WCC the day Stancil killed Ron Lane

By Ethan Smith
Published in News on April 27, 2017 6:43 PM

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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO

Kenneth Morgan Stancil III listens to testimony in Wayne County Superior Court Thursday detailing the events leading up to and following his admitted shooting of Ron Lane on the Campus of Wayne Community College April 13, 2015.

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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO

Capt. Steve Mozingo of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office details the "logistical nightmare" law enforcement encountered when responding to what it first believed was an active shooter on the campus of Wayne Community College the day Lane was killed.

 Surveillance video of Kenneth Morgan Stancil III's actions before and after he shot and killed print shop technician Ron Lane on Wayne Community College's campus April 13, 2015, was shown Thursday in the fifth day of Stancil's first-degree murder trial.

The footage showed Stancil parked in a lot on the south side of the campus beside the Wayne Learning Center as early in the day as 7:12 a.m.

Capt. Warren Baker, of the college's police force, testified to what was being shown in the video footage, which he retrieved from the surveillance system right after the incident.

The video shows Stancil get out of his car and walk across campus to the Hocutt Building and enter the bathroom slightly before 7:20 a.m.

He then walked back to his car and sat there until 8:01 a.m.

The footage then showed Stancil retrieve a duffel bag from his car and walk back to the Hocutt Building and go to the bathroom again.

Then, surveillance footage showed Stancil walk out of the bathroom, leave the building and go over to the Wayne Learning Center.

He then stopped at a water fountain outside the print shop, put the bag on the ground, got a sip of water, retrieved a shotgun from the bag and entered the print shop.

The footage then showed Stancil rush out of the print shop, back across the campus, get into his car and drive off.

Johnathan Edwards, who was in the print shop during the incident, testified that Stancil had a brief conversation with Lane before yelling "(Expletive) you!" three times and shooting him.

Walter Webster, Stancil's defense attorney, has told the court the defense team admits Stancil shot and killed Lane.

Testimony given Thursday provided a look at what happened on the campus after Stancil shot Lane.

Capt. Steve Mozingo with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office detailed how law enforcement responded.

He testified a command post was set up and as officers arrived on scene and shut down the campus and several roads around it, teams of four were sent in to each floor of each building to clear and secure the buildings.

Every building except the campus' childcare center building was evacuated after the incident, Mozingo said.

Mozingo said law enforcement had to figure out how to handle the situation to make sure everyone was safe and still clear the campus while searching for what they believed at the time was an active shooter. He said it was a "logistical nightmare."

Mozingo also testified to an incident in which a SWAT team threw tear gas and a "stinger ball" into a bathroom after discovering someone inside who refused to respond to any command from law enforcement.

He said all law enforcement could see under the stall door inside a women's restroom in the Spruce Building on campus was a pair of tennis shoes.

"When they entered into the ladies' room, they could see a pair of tennis shoes underneath the stall door," Mozingo said. "That four man team tried to make contact. The person in the stall would never reply at all to the deputies."

Despite repeated attempts, the person inside the stall did not respond to law enforcement, which is why actions were taken to neutralize a perceived threat.

"When I was notified, we deployed a SWAT team to this location not knowing whether this is our suspect or who this is," Mozingo said.

He testified the SWAT Team replaced the four man team clearing the building and began trying to negotiate with the person inside the stall.

"For about 12 minutes they talked to this person," Mozingo said. "The person never, ever replied in any way shape, form or fashion."

Then Mozingo instructed the SWAT Team to deploy tear gas under the stall door, he testified.

Mozingo then testified that when the person did not speak or respond after being tear-gassed and further attempts were made to talk to them, a "stinger ball" was thrown into the stall.

Mozingo testified a "stinger ball" is a small rubber explosive device with rubber BB pellets inside that project outward in all directions when it goes off.

"They rolled that underneath the stall and when it activated, and the BBs started hitting the person, she finally spoke up and came out of the bathroom," Mozingo said. "At that point we concluded she definitely was not who we were looking for, and what we found out later was she is of (Asian) descent, speaks very little English. She was contacted by her parents and told not to move from that bathroom until they heard her voice, and that's what she did."

Further testimony was heard from two officers who responded to the crime scene and photographed the area.

Richard Winders with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office testified that he took a series of 24 photos of the scene that were stitched together with computer software to create a panoramic "virtual tour" of the scene.

Winders testified to what the "virtual tour" showed, which was the print shop itself, with Lane lying on his right side, arms stretched out in front of him, with a pool of dark red and brown blood extending several feet from his head.

Further testimony from Cpl. Trevor Albaugh of the Goldsboro Police Department's Crime Scene Unit saw more photographs from the crime scene introduced to the jury.

One of those photos was a close-up ---- graphic in detail ---- of Lane as he lie on the floor after he had been shot by Stancil.

Webster objected, saying this would unduly prejudice the jury, but presiding Superior Court Judge Jay Hockenbury overruled it after a brief hearing  and allowed it as evidence.

Court recessed for the day around 5 p.m.

Stancil's trial will resume Friday at 9:30 a.m.