Two N.C. Elderly Couples Found Slain in Alleged ‘Gang-Related’ Home Invasion

A reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the quadruple-homicide of four senior citizens during an August home invasion in North Carolina that authorities believe was gang-related.

Wes Tripp, Sheriff of Halifax County, announced Monday in a statement that authorities “have reason to believe these cases are gang-related and the residence was specifically targeted.”

Tripp said his office is receiving help from the State Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Enfield Police Department. He added that forensic evidence has been collected.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 252-583-8201.

• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

According to ABC 11, the Sheriff’s Office responded to the home of James, 88, and Janice Harris, 72 on Aug. 21. The four victims – which also included James Whitley, 76, and his wife Peggy Jo, 67 – were discovered by a family member. The two couples, who were all fatally shot, were known for getting together for Sunday night dinner and card games.

This is what’s left of a makeshift memorial in front of the home where 2 Halifax Co. elderly couples were killed in late August. #ABC11 http://pic.twitter.com/vehpcMh6IZ

— DeJuan Hoggard (@DeJuanABC11) October 9, 2017

ABC 11 reports that James Harris owned J & J Gunsmithing and ran the business out of his home.

“Whoever broke into the house caught them all by surprise because James and his wife always had a gun on their hip,” neighbor Coy Herbert told ABC 11.

Gov. Roy Cooper previously announced the couples were shot multiple times through a glass door, according to WNCN.

Herbert that the situation is “hard to fathom.”

“It’s been kind of different,” he said. “I mean, it’s not something that happens normally around here. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”