Fuquay-Varina man charged in girlfriend's shooting death

Logan Connail McLean, 21, of 204-A Bridge St., faces a first-degree murder charge after he called 911 reporting that Britny Jordan Puryear, 22, had been shot.

"I think she's dead, man. Can y'all please help?" McLean told a 911 dispatcher in a call he made at 9:35 p.m. "I had a gun, and it went off in my hand, and it shot her."

In an affidavit accompanying a search warrant in the case, investigators said McLean admitted to accidentally shooting Puryear, who was found in an upstairs bedroom, and then throwing the gun from a bridge onto some nearby railroad tracks.

Investigators have not commented on a possible motive for the shooting but noted in the search warrant that police observed drugs and drug paraphernalia in the home – specifically a ceramic plate with white powder residue and a short straw "commonly used to snort cocaine."

Nextdoor neighbor Annie McNeill said McLean and Puryear – who have a 4-month-old son – were both very sweet but that they had argued frequently since they moved in about a year ago.

She said her daughter heard a gunshot Thursday night and then a loud noise that sounded as if someone had fallen.

"I don't even know what to say," McNeill said.

It's unclear if Puryear was still alive when police arrived.

According to the nine-minute 911 call released Friday morning, McLean initially thought she might be dead but then said he thought she might be breathing.

At one point in the recording, he tells the dispatcher that he left Puryear, who wasn't moving, to go smoke.

"Are you right by her now?" the dispatcher asks a little more than four minutes into the call.

"No, I stepped outside, man," McLean says. "I stepped outside, 'cause I'm smoking a cigarette. My son is –"

"You're smoking a cigarette?" the dispatcher asks. "We need to help her."

"What do I need to do?" McLean replies.

At another point, the operator tells McLean that he needs to count faster while administering CPR.

McLean was also charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon stemming from an Oct. 17 conviction on a felony drug charge. He was on 18 months' probation in that case.

He was being held without bond Friday evening under protective custody, at his own request, a Wake County Sheriff's Office spokesman said.