Pender County offers support to classmates of murdered Surf City Middle Schooler

John Staton, Wilmington StarNews
·2 min read
Surf City Middle School in Hampstead. Police say a student at the school was shot and killed by his father in Wilmington on Jan. 15.
Surf City Middle School in Hampstead. Police say a student at the school was shot and killed by his father in Wilmington on Jan. 15.

A 13-year-old boy who police say was murdered in Wilmington on Saturday by his father was a student at Surf City Middle School in Hampstead.

According to a news release from Bob Fankboner, communications coordinator for Pender County Schools, counselors and the school psychologist will be available to talk with any students, parents or school employees who want to speak with them once classes resume Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

"The senseless loss of such a young life is difficult to understand," Pender County Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven Hill said in the release. "Any time you lose a student, regardless of circumstance, it's felt across the district. We will be here for our students, faculty and staff who need any extra support over the days ahead."

More: Police identify Hampstead man accused of killing mom, sister, son in Landfall parking lot

Wilmington police have charged Wilbert Lamont Robinson, 40, with three counts of murder in the shooting deaths of 65-year-old Diretta Marie Robinson, who was his mother, and 48-year-old Trina Lynnette Robinson, who was his sister. The name of Robison's 13-year-old son, who police say he also shot, was not released.

All four lived in Hampstead.

On Monday, at an apartment on Leeward Lane in Hampstead associated with at least two of the victims, someone had left a bouquet of yellow flowers outside the front door on the porch near a Razor scooter.

Police responded to an incident in front of the Dollar Tree in Landfall shopping center 1319 Military Cutoff Road, in Wilmington, N.C., Saturday, January 15, 2021. [SYDNEY HOOVER/STARNEWS]
Police responded to an incident in front of the Dollar Tree in Landfall shopping center 1319 Military Cutoff Road, in Wilmington, N.C., Saturday, January 15, 2021. [SYDNEY HOOVER/STARNEWS]

Robinson shot himself, police say, and was taken to the hospital, where he was later charged.

A motive for the shooting, which took place in the Landfall Shopping Center on Saturday, has not been established. Police say Wilbert Robinson, along with the three victims, appear to have arrived at the shopping center in the same car.

Anyone who witnessed this incident is asked to call Wilmington police at 910-343-3609.

Contact John Staton at 910-344-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Pender County offers support to classmates of murdered middle schooler