Store clerk, husband, suspect injured in Moore County shooting

The robbery happened shortly before 10:30 p.m. Monday at the Exxon Short Stop Food Mart at the intersection of U.S. Highway 1 and Camp Easter Road in Lakeview.

Store clerk, Grace Kelly, 75, her husband, Angus G. Kelly, 78, and one of the suspects were shot during the robbery, according to Moore County Sheriff Lane Carter.

The men in custody are Leroy Richard Medley, 20, of 1193 W. Indiana Ave. in Southern Pines; Demarcus James Dennison, 18, of 572 School St. in Polkton; and Randy Joel Williams, 17, of 350 Shaw Ave. in Southern Pines. The identity of the man being sought hasn't been released.

Medley, Dennison and Williams have been charged with two counts each of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count each of first-degree kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Medley and Dennison were being held Tuesday in the Moore County Detention Center under $250,000 bonds.

Williams was taken to Moore Regional Hospital, where authorities said he underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition.

According to investigators, Angus Kelly put the family dog in his Jeep Cherokee Monday night and went to the store to pick up his wife. When he saw the robbery, he grabbed his shotgun from the vehicle and fired a shot through the store window, shooting Williams in the face.

One of the men fled the store, and the two others used Grace Kelly as a shield to get out of the store. That’s when, investigators said, they believe an exchange of gunfire occurred that ended with Angus Kelly being shot twice in the side and his wife in the arm.

"He saw his wife and did what he thought was right," Carter said.

Grace Kelly was treated at Moore Regional Hospital and released. She returned to the crime scene with a bandage around her arm and then drove herself to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, where her husband was undergoing surgery.

Angus Kelly was listed in serious condition Tuesday, according to hospital spokesman Tom Hughes.

"I’ve got three gunmen in here. Hurry,” Grace Kelly told the dispatcher.

The dispatcher then tries to find out what's happening while someone screams in the background.

"What's going on in there? Was someone trying to rob you?" the dispatcher asked.

"Yes. I've been shot,” Grace Kelly said.

"You have been shot?" the dispatch asks.

"Yes, hurry," Grace Kelly said.

After Grace Kelly's 911 call, authorities responding to the shooting began a ground search, and a helicopter with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol was called in to assist. Heat-seeking imaging from the helicopter helped find two of the suspected robbers near some railroad tracks behind the store, investigators said.

Interviews with those two men led to the arrest of a third suspect at a residence in Southern Pines, authorities said. The fourth man, who authorities said served as the getaway driver, escaped in a dark blue SUV.

The men might have been responsible for three, possibly four, armed robberies from Moore County to Charlotte, according to Carter.