According to Harnett County Sheriff Gary McNeill, Dennis Clemmons, 37, was arrested just before midnight Tuesday at a Cumberland County motel following a search by authorities in Cumberland and Harnett counties and police in Spring Lake.
During the arrest, Clemmons suffered a gash to his forehead.
Clemmons is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Thurman Allen, 54, of Sanford.He is being held in the Harnett County Jail.
Officials said Clemmons had been assaulting his girlfriend at 554 Murchisontown Road in Sanford when she called her father for help. When Allen arrived around 1 p.m, police said Clemmons shot Allen four times through Allen's truck, striking the victim in the head and chest.
Allen died of multiple wounds on the way to Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford.
At the time of the shooting, a deputy was not far down the road and heard the shots.
A search was conducted by land and air, utilizing dogs, a Highway Patrol helicopter, the Harnett County Sheriff's Office and the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
The dogs found a piece of Clemmon's clothing and investigators brought out another dog that specializes in working with evidence. Clemmons was not located during the search.
Police stopped school buses bringing children home after school, preventing them from driving near the scene of the shooting, so that children would not be let off in an area where Clemmons might be hiding.
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