LENOIR, N.C. (WJZY) — Lenoir Police are still investigating the case, but people who attended Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church with Shantell Harper say the community has suffered a huge loss.
Police are looking for clues as to what took place on Northwest Willow Street in Lenoir. People living in the area say typically the Caldwell County neighborhood is safe and quiet.
But at noon on Monday, shots rang out.
“When I got the call, I was like, for real, you serious?” says Shebala Norwood, choir director at Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. “Honey, I almost passed out, I was like, ‘Oh, Jesus, this cannot be happening, this is too close to home. This is my church.'”
That was the sentiment of a lot of people as they gathered on the grounds of Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, which is across the street from where the shooting took place.
Police say they responded to the home within five minutes and found three people suffering from gunshot wounds. A 6-month-old child, the child’s father, 24-year-old Anthony Stevenson Jr., and the child’s mother, 21-year-old Shantell Harper.
Stevenson Jr. and Harper were transported to a local hospital where they later died. The child was flown to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center and is listed in critical condition.
“Their baby, now he doesn’t have his mother or father,” added Norwood. “That right there, that hurts a whole lot.”
Many who knew Shantell Harper say she was always at church, singing in the choir, and now all who knew her will help others deal with the grief.
“Leaning on each other Lord Jesus,” says Norwood. “Leaning on each other for everything. Support for this family, we’re here to help them for anything.”
All the church members say they are like a big family and say everyone is praying for the child.