After a two day search, the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office says Robert Lee Strother has been shot in a gunfight with authorities.
Saturday night, a 911 caller informed authorities that a man fitting Strother’s description was sitting on the porch of a Banks School Road residence. Two armored vehicles were dispatched to the scene and found Strother, who refused instructions to surrender. A gunfight ensued and Strother was struck multiple times. He was taken to the hospital. There was no word on his current condition. No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident. The SBI will now take over the investigation.
The 30-year-old Strother is accused of shooting a Lenoir County Sheriff’s deputy Thursday night. The K-9 unit deputy, 30-year-old Steven Key, was responding to a domestic call on Lang Skinner Road in La Grange. Key has since been treated and released from UNC Lenoir.
By Friday morning, Strother had evaded capture and shot a Lenoir County resident multiple times while stealing that resident’s pickup truck. At last report, the resident was hospitalized in critical condition. The pickup was later found near a wood line in the Kennedy Home Road area, but Strother was nowhere nearby.
Over two dozen emergency response agencies have assisted in the search for Strother since Thursday night, including the FBI, the SBI, the State Highway Patrol, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
