Local Shooting, lets keep the officers in our prayers
blackwaterstudio
Registered Users Posts: 779 Major grins
Before I post the story, I will say that this is my old crew. As many of you know or don't know, I was on the S.E.R.T team (SWAT) I spent many hours with these guys, training, etc. All of these guys I would have taken a bullet for. Now 3 of them were put in a position where they had to kill someone. We use to eat at this resturant every night at work, it was a little mom and pop's country resturant at the time.
Deputies kill man after three shot in Cullowhee
Victims chased robber off
CULLOWHEE — Phil Doolan had just gotten back to his apartment after 14 days of camping when he heard the gunshots at midnight and ran toward the sounds of the screams.
Around the corner and in the parking lot of the China Dragon, Doolan saw someone kneeling over Qi Lin, searching through the restaurant owner’s pockets before chasing after another man fleeing the business.
That guy could have shot me,” Doolan, 21, said Tuesday, recounting the bizarre robbery that left three people critically wounded and later led to the police shooting death of the lone suspect. “I’ll never forget it.”
In the 10 hours that followed, Jackson County detectives tracked the man who they believe robbed the China Dragon to Moss Apartments on Weyehutta Road about a mile away. A tactical unit stormed an apartment and found Dewann Christopher McCollum.
Sheriff Jimmy Ashe said McCollum, 32, threatened officers with a weapon after jumping out of a closet. He said his officers used force to protect themselves, fatally shooting him. McCollum was wanted on a drug charge in Cumberland County.
Ashe said McCollum went into the restaurant after it closed and ordered Qi Lin, 26, and two men cleaning the kitchen to lie on the floor. He demanded money and the men complied.
But instead of leaving with the cash, McCollum tried to sexually assault 23-year-old Becky Lin, Ashe said.
The men jumped up and bombarded the robber with tea canisters. They kept fighting after he shot them with a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun, Ashe said.
The brawl spilled into the parking lot, where Qi Lin collapsed from a wound to his thigh. McCollum leaned over the man and searched his pockets before chasing Youle Lin, 24, as he ran from the restaurant to get help, the sheriff said.
McCollum gave up the chase and ran from the scene.
Doolan ran back to his apartment, blocks from Western Carolina University, and asked roommate Erin Williams to call 911. The two then put pressure on the wounds of the victims until rescue workers arrived.
Jie Lin, 32, Cai Bolin, 25, and Qi Lin were at Mission Hospitals. They are expected to recover, the sheriff said.
Becky Lin and Youle Lin escaped without serious injury.
The shooting shocked business owners and residents in Cullowhee, a small community home to WCU and a cluster of stores around the campus.
Ashe said he has had no recent reports of robberies in Cullowhee, except for a report of a stolen gun two days ago. The gun matched the description of the weapon used in the shooting.
Dora Nations has been working the counter at the Triple B gas station within sight of the restaurant for about a year. She said the Lins were always friendly and the restaurant was popular.
“It worries me,” she said. “We’ll just be more on guard.”
Larry Bryson runs an auto body shop behind the gas station. He said he eats at the China Dragon twice a week.
“They were friendly,” he said. “The place was packed out at lunch.”
The Lins opened the China Dragon about a year ago, according to the Jackson County Health Department.
The family ran a restaurant in Sylva but closed it and moved to Cullowhee. They lived in a set of apartments next door. The Lins’ fans from Sylva made the trip to Cullowhee every Sunday to enjoy the lunch buffet, Bryson said.
“The whole community was backing them,” he said.
Deputies kill man after three shot in Cullowhee
Victims chased robber off
CULLOWHEE — Phil Doolan had just gotten back to his apartment after 14 days of camping when he heard the gunshots at midnight and ran toward the sounds of the screams.
Around the corner and in the parking lot of the China Dragon, Doolan saw someone kneeling over Qi Lin, searching through the restaurant owner’s pockets before chasing after another man fleeing the business.
That guy could have shot me,” Doolan, 21, said Tuesday, recounting the bizarre robbery that left three people critically wounded and later led to the police shooting death of the lone suspect. “I’ll never forget it.”
In the 10 hours that followed, Jackson County detectives tracked the man who they believe robbed the China Dragon to Moss Apartments on Weyehutta Road about a mile away. A tactical unit stormed an apartment and found Dewann Christopher McCollum.
Sheriff Jimmy Ashe said McCollum, 32, threatened officers with a weapon after jumping out of a closet. He said his officers used force to protect themselves, fatally shooting him. McCollum was wanted on a drug charge in Cumberland County.
Ashe said McCollum went into the restaurant after it closed and ordered Qi Lin, 26, and two men cleaning the kitchen to lie on the floor. He demanded money and the men complied.
But instead of leaving with the cash, McCollum tried to sexually assault 23-year-old Becky Lin, Ashe said.
The men jumped up and bombarded the robber with tea canisters. They kept fighting after he shot them with a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun, Ashe said.
The brawl spilled into the parking lot, where Qi Lin collapsed from a wound to his thigh. McCollum leaned over the man and searched his pockets before chasing Youle Lin, 24, as he ran from the restaurant to get help, the sheriff said.
McCollum gave up the chase and ran from the scene.
Doolan ran back to his apartment, blocks from Western Carolina University, and asked roommate Erin Williams to call 911. The two then put pressure on the wounds of the victims until rescue workers arrived.
Jie Lin, 32, Cai Bolin, 25, and Qi Lin were at Mission Hospitals. They are expected to recover, the sheriff said.
Becky Lin and Youle Lin escaped without serious injury.
The shooting shocked business owners and residents in Cullowhee, a small community home to WCU and a cluster of stores around the campus.
Ashe said he has had no recent reports of robberies in Cullowhee, except for a report of a stolen gun two days ago. The gun matched the description of the weapon used in the shooting.
Dora Nations has been working the counter at the Triple B gas station within sight of the restaurant for about a year. She said the Lins were always friendly and the restaurant was popular.
“It worries me,” she said. “We’ll just be more on guard.”
Larry Bryson runs an auto body shop behind the gas station. He said he eats at the China Dragon twice a week.
“They were friendly,” he said. “The place was packed out at lunch.”
The Lins opened the China Dragon about a year ago, according to the Jackson County Health Department.
The family ran a restaurant in Sylva but closed it and moved to Cullowhee. They lived in a set of apartments next door. The Lins’ fans from Sylva made the trip to Cullowhee every Sunday to enjoy the lunch buffet, Bryson said.
“The whole community was backing them,” he said.
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