Man accused of double homicide in Fort Mill makes first court appearance in Gastonia
A man has been arrested just over a week after the shooting deaths of a mother and son in Fort Mill, deputies said.
Investigators said they found Betty Reynolds, 71, and Barry Reynolds, 40, dead on Sept. 27 after performing a welfare check at a home on Saddle Ridge Road.
On Thursday, authorities said they arrested Paul Eugene Bumgardner, 45, in Gastonia for the double homicide. York County investigators told Gastonia police that Bumgardner was at a home on Jackson Road.
“I saw a bunch of police cars out there last night,” said Andrew Beaty, who lives nearby in Gastonia. “Good thing I got my own protection at home and security system, but that’s uneasy to find that out.”
Bumgardner was charged with two counts of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and burglary in the first degree.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man arrested; accused of killing mother, son in Fort Mill, sheriff says
Channel 9′s Ken Lemon was in the courtroom Friday as Bumgardner’s attorney tried to have him set free. He asked the judge to let Bumgardner go and turn himself in to the York County Sheriff’s Department, but the judge did not approve.
“He is gainfully employed, self-employed. He does residential remodels,” said Michael Neece, a defense attorney. “Unrecurring or putting his bond at a lower amount with the condition that within 48 hours, he returns himself to South Carolina.”
York County deputies said Bumgardner and the two victims knew each other, though they wouldn’t say how or why they believe Bumgardner was there. Arrest warrants appear to indicate he forced his way into the house at night, then shot and killed the mother and son.
Neighbors told Lemon that news of their deaths shattered a community in Fort Mill, as loved ones grieve.
At this point, police have not confirmed what led to that shooting.
Bumgardner is set to appear back in court in November to decide if he’ll willingly go back to York County to face double-murder charges.
(WATCH BELOW: Newly released warrants detail moments before murder of Wake County deputy)
