A man matching the description of a suspected serial killer was shot dead by North Carolina police yesterday.
Patrick Burris (41), was shot by officers investigating a burglary complaint at a home in Gastonia, 30 miles from where five people have been killed since June 27th.
Ballistics tests showed his gun matched the one used to kill residents in and around Gaffney over six days last week, said State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd.
Investigators did not have an address for Burris. While evidence left no doubt he was the killer, they still had no idea why he did it. "He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird," said SLED Deputy Director Neil Dolan.
Burris had a criminal record with convictions for larceny, forgery and breaking and entering in states across the Southeast, including Florida, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. He had been paroled from a North Carolina prison in April after serving nearly eight years for felony breaking and entering and theft.
"Look at this," Mr Lloyd said, waving a stapled copy of Burris' criminal record. "This is like 25 pages. At some point the criminal justice system is going to need to explain why this suspect was out on the street."
Gaston County police said the other two people were in custody, but didn't indicate whether they were facing any charges.
The killing spree in Gaffney occurred in a 10-mile area over six days. A peach farmer was killed on June 27th, an 83-year-old woman and her daughter were found tied up and shot four days later and the next day a father and his teen daughter were shot in their family's furniture store.
People throughout the northwestern South Carolina region have armed themselves, locked their doors and reported anything suspicious.
AP