KURE BEACH, N.C. (WECT) – The Kure Beach Police Department released the identities of two men who died during a shooting incident Tuesday.
Police say that 55-year-old John Allen Garisto was fatally shot by William Henry Bennett, 61, just before 3 p.m.
Officers say Bennett then went into his residence. They then heard a single gunshot come from the home. Bennett was found dead.
“You hear about stuff like this all the time happening in other communities,” said Harrison Shepherd, who has a house nearby. “But when it happens in a very small community like this it sort of hits you differently.”
Shepherd described a surreal scene as tactical teams tried to confront Bennett.
“Over at my uncle’s house, two law enforcement officers asked if they could use our back deck as a vantage point and they brought their rifles up,” Shepherd said.
The shocking news from Ocean View Avenue has left the Kure Beach community in disbelief.
“It’s sad because we lost two lives over an argument, which you don’t really see in Kure Beach or Carolina Beach,” said Josh Gaskell, who works in Kure Beach. “We were like ‘did we really just watch that?’ It didn’t click in because it’s crazy, but it didn’t get into our heads.”
Town Mayor Craig Bloszinsky shared his thoughts on the tragedy:
“Our sincere condolences to the families involved in this tragedy and a feeling of thanks for our KBPD, Sheriff’s Dept., CBPD, Highway Patrol, State Ranger, EMS and KBFD for the tremendous support in bringing this to tragedy to closure.”
TOWN MAYOR CRAIG BLOSZINSKY SHARED HIS THOUGHTS ON THE TRAGEDY SAYING QUOTE”
“Our sincere condolences to the family is involved in this tragedy and a feeling of thanks for our KBPD sheriffs department CBP D Highway patrol state ranger EMS and KBFD for the tremendous support and bringing this tragedy to closure.”
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