Sheriff: Man wanted for fatally shooting girlfriend

Louisburg, N.C. — Franklin County sheriff's deputies are searching for a man accused of fatally shooting his 19-year-old girlfriend early Sunday.

Sheriff Pat Green said David Bishop, 24, pulled out a gun and began firing inside his home at 609 Fox Ridge Road in Fox Ridge Farms subdivision, south of Louisburg. Bishop then aimed at girlfriend Gabrielle Reece, of Abercrombie Road in Wake Forest, and fired, the sheriff said.

Green said a fight between the couple may have triggered the shooting. He said witnesses told him that Bishop pulled out a gun, pointed it at Reece, and then asked, "Are you scared?" She replied, "No." Bishop then pulled the trigger, Green said.

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Jennifer Franco said she and Reece were like sisters growing up.

"We told each other everything. We were always hanging out,” Franco said.

Franco said she tried to warn Reece about Bishop.

"I was like, 'Gabbi, what are you doing? Do you really like this guy?' And she was like, 'Yeah, he is cool,'” Franco said. "I was like, 'You need to make better decisions about who you hang out with, because some day you are going to regret it.'"

"He (Bishop) seemed like kind of a violent person (and) that it takes very little to tick him off,” said Steven Preddy, Reece's friend.

Preddy said he met Bishop through Reece at a bar. He said Bishop accused him of flirting with Reece.

"Ten to 15 minutes later, he blew up at me. I could tell he had been drinking,” Preddy said.

Bishop fled the scene of the shooting early Sunday and is still on the run, Green said.

After the shooting, deputies took Christopher Rose, 21, of 1704 S. Main St. in Wake Forest, into custody. He was charged with accessory after the fact to murder. When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Rose putting Reece's body in a trash bag in an attempt to dispose of it, Green said.

Bishop was on probation following a March arrest for carrying a concealed weapon. He was arrested again last month for causing damage to personal property and was released on bond, the sheriff said.