8 dead in N.C. nursing home shooting

The shooting at a Carthage facility left several others injured

Associated Press
Sunday, March 29, 2009

CARTHAGE, N.C. - Authorities said man accused of opening fire in a North Carolina nursing home faces eight counts of first-degree murder.

District Attorney Maureen Krueger identified the suspect in the killings of eight people as 45-year-old Robert Stewart of Moore County. He also faces a charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer.

Authorities said seven residents and one nurse were killed in the 10 a.m. rampage Sunday at Pinelake Health and Rehab in the town of Carthage, about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh. A police officer and several other people were also wounded before Stewart was shot and apprehended.

Authorities at an afternoon news conference said Stewart did not work at the facility and they don't believe he is related to any of the victims.

'Comes in and starts shooting'

Sen. Harris Blake of Moore County said the gunman "comes in and just starts shooting everything around."

Gretchen Kelly, spokeswoman at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, said six people had been brought to the hospital from the nursing home about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh. Kelly said two of the injured died at the hospital.

Kelly said two other patients had been discharged, while two were still being treated. She wouldn't release further details on the injuries or conditions of those hospitalized.

McKenzie said the gunman wasn't a patient at the nursing home, but didn't offer any further details on what the gunman's motive might have been.

A nursing home Web site said the facility that opened in 1993 has 110 beds, including 20 for those with Alzheimer's disease.

Calls to the nursing home by The Associated Press rang unanswered Sunday, and McKenzie and several state law enforcement agencies didn't immediately return messages or declined to comment. Police planned a news conference for later Sunday afternoon.

Carthage is a small town of roughly 1,800 people in the North Carolina Sandhills, an area popular among retirees and home to several noted golf courses, including the famed Pinehurst resort and its No. 2 course that regularly hosts the U.S. Open.

Pinelake Health and Rehab was last inspected in May, and the review resulted in an overall five-star -- or "much above average" -- rating from federal Medicaid officials.