Man shot dead in Benson

Police were first called to the house at 325 W. Harnett St. early Sunday evening on the report of a custody dispute. A man had come to to pick up his children, and there was some sort of altercation.

The man, identified as Richard O'Neal Longmire, 39, of 531 Thorne Road in Selma, later returned to the home and was shot. Officers went to the house shortly before midnight and found Longmire lying in the front yard with gunshot wounds to his head and abdomen, according to an incident report.

Longmire's brother, father and sister arrived at the house and became upset, according to the report, and officers asked for sheriff's deputies to help control the crime scene.

"I just went bananas because I seen his body laying there on the ground," said Patrina Wright, whose sister lives in the home. She said Longmire and the children's mother often met at the house to exchange custody of their children, who were inside the home at the time of the shooting.

Wright said she held the children and struggled to answer their questions.

"I was just crying because I didn't know what to say," she said.

An arrest has not been made in the case, which is under investigation. Benson Town Manager Matt Zapp said detectives were sifting through witness accounts of what happened.

Wright said the family is looking for answers.

"At this time of need, that's all we can do is pray," she said.