Deadly shooting caught on camera leads to arrest of two in Fayetteville
In the wake of a deadly shooting Aug. 26, Fayetteville investigators collected surveillance footage from several cameras throughout the city that tracked the suspect vehicle and bore witness to the killing, leading to the arrests of two men this week, court records reveal.
Jordan Alexander Bernal, 22, and Justin Quavon Shumpert, 28, are each charged with first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle, attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Ernest Bullock, 24, and the wounding of Bullock's 25-year-old friend.
According to the Fayetteville Police Department probable cause affidavit, Bullock and the surviving victim were leaving a Morganton Road parking lot in Bullock's Mercedes when a Kia SUV pulled up next to them around 9:30 p.m. At least one camera captured a brief exchange that happened between the occupants of the two vehicles before gunshots rang out, the affidavit said.
"Multiple shots were fired from the ... KIA SUV into the victim's white Mercedes," the affidavit states.
More: Name released of a man killed Saturday in Fayetteville
The video
The camera of a nearby business captured video of the gunshots as they were fired into Mercedes, the record states. According to the affidavit, investigators determined that the shots came from the driver's window of the Kia and from the front-seat passenger as he sat in the passenger-side window frame and shot over the Kia, the record states.
After the shooting, the Kia reportedly left on Morganton Road, while Bullock's vehicle came to a stop in the 100 block of Bonanza Drive, across from the parking lot, the record said.
According to a Police Department news release, Bullock and his passenger exited the vehicle and ran into a nearby field where Bullock collapsed.
The affidavit said officers found Bullock with a gunshot wound to the chest and his passenger, who'd also been shot, "was walking around trying to get help for his friend," the release said.
Bullock was pronounced dead at the scene. The survivor was taken to a local hospital for treatment, police said.
According to the affidavit, detectives learned that prior to the shooting, Bullock had been receiving threats from an individual who was later identified in a video on social media inside what appeared to be the Kia SUV used in the shooting. Detectives in the Police Department’s Gang Unit located the Kia at that individual's home in the 1000 block of Juniper Drive and determined the vehicle was owned by Bernal, the information states.
The affidavit alleges that among the surveillance footage obtained, there was video of Bernal, Shumpert and a third man getting into Bernal's SUV at the Red Roof Inn on Owen Drive shortly before the shooting. Several other cameras then captured images of the SUV as it traveled the six miles to the parking lot on Morganton Road where it encountered Bullock's Mercedes, the affidavit said.
In addition to the charges in the homicide, Bernal and Shumpert are also being held on charges of manufacturing cocaine, maintaining a dwelling for the sale of a controlled substance and conspiracy after police allegedly found drugs and drug paraphernalia in the SUV when it was seized Aug. 31, according to court records.
Shumpert and another man were arrested that same day on outstanding warrants. Shumpert was additionally booked on the murder charge Monday.
Bernal was arrested at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at his home in the 8800 block of Grouse Run Lane, according to the arrest report. He was also served with outstanding unrelated warrants, according to court records.
Both men remained in the Cumberland County jail Friday without bail, jail records show.
Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Two Fayetteville men charged with murder in shooting of Ernest Bullock
