WENTWORTH(AP) — Two motorcyclists were shot and killed and a third was wounded Monday as they rode on a North Carolina highway, a sheriff’s office said.
Investigators with the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office say the shootings occurred on the U.S. Highway 29 bypass near N.C. Highway 14, news outlets reported. Lt. Kevin Suthard said in a news release that the investigators believe the shots were fired from a red Dodge dually pickup truck.
A dual rear-wheel truck – often referred to as a dually – is described by J.D. Power as a heavy-duty pickup truck with two rear wheels on each side.
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told a news conference Tuesday afternoon that the shooting victims were targeted. He said there could be one suspect or multiple suspects.
The three victims were traveling on two motorcycles, according to the sheriff’s office. Page said their identities won’t be released out of concern for the safety of the surviving victim and the families of those involved.
Motorists alerted authorities at around 4:45 p.m. that two victims were lying along the roadway, Suthard said in the news release. Deputies and other first responders located a third victim shortly after reaching the scene, the news release said. Page told the news conference that the surviving shooting victim was treated at the scene and released.
Page reiterated that whoever is responsible for the shootings should be considered armed and dangerous.