North Carolina Nursing Home Scene of Gunman's Wrath
Jessie Musser, 88, had only been a resident of Pinelake Health and Rehab in Carthage, North Carolina for six weeks. He suffered from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. He was blind, deaf, and confined to a wheelchair. Jessie died yesterday after being shot by a violent gunman who rampaged through his home. Now, Jessie's family faces the difficult task of explaining to his wife, who also lives at the facility and has dementia, that he is gone. His son-in-law, Jim Foster, said, "She was upset that they didn't bring him to see her yesterday. I don't know how we're going to break it to her."
Ellery Chisholm called her daughter just moments after the gunman marched into her room and pointed his gun at her roommate. She hid her face in her shirt so she couldn't see the gunman and he left the room without shooting. He began shooting down the hallway.
Carthage police are unsure why the gunman, now identified as 45 year-old Robert Stewart, went on the killing spree on March 29, 2009. He entered the facility around 10:00 a.m. armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and other weapons. He was not an employee of the facility and he did not appear to have been related to any of the residents. It is suspected that he targeted the facility because his estranged wife worked there. However, it is not yet known if she was working at the facility that day. In all, he killed seven residents and one nurse before being wounded by a police officer in a shootout. His victims were Tessie Garner, 88; Lillian Dunn, 89; Jessie Musser, 88; Bessie Hendrick, 78; John Goldston, 78; Margaret Johnson, 89; Louise Decker, 98, and Jerry Avent, 39. Jerry Avant, a nurse at the facility, was shot more than two dozen times. A doctor told his father that "he undoubtedly saved a lot of lives".
Stewart has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder and a charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer. Other charges are pending.
Residents have been removed from the 110 bed facility, including the residents with Alzheimer's disease.
For continuing information on this tragic story, monitor our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.
