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Police Suspect Shooting-Suicide in Fayetteville

Officers found the body of Terry Thaggard, 23, in a vehicle shortly after 11:30 a.m. Monday. Thaggard was wanted for questioning in the shooting of his girlfriend, police said.

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Fayetteville police are investigating a shooting and suicide to see if they are connected.

Officers found the body of Terry Thaggard, 23, in a vehicle shortly after 11:30 a.m. Monday outside a housing project at 561 Campbell Terrace. His fatal wound appeared to be self-inflicted, police said.

Witnesses said Thaggard shot himself in the head.

Police had been seeking Thaggard for questioning in a 7:20 a.m. shooting inside a home at 1912 Armstrong Drive.

The shooting victim, Marsheena Melvin, 26, was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and then transported to UNC Hospitals, where her condition was unknown Monday night.

"They always fought, always,” family friend Diana Hopkins said of the couple.

"One of the ladies came running over and she said Terry just shot himself. And I ran to the car,” said Pastor Vernard Whitfield of Righteous Guide Church.

Friends said Thaggard had a troubled past, including involvement with drugs. But his pastor said he recently got a job and was straightening up – for his sons' sake.

"He was working on it. I don't know what led him to this place of despair,” Whitfield said.

Thaggard left behind three young boys.

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