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Sheriff: High school teacher killed trying to rob drug stash house near Burlington

A teacher and coach at a charter school near Charlotte was killed last week in a shootout in Alamance County while trying to rob a drug cartel's stash house, authorities said Wednesday.

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By
Matthew Burns
, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor
BURLINGTON, N.C. — A teacher and coach at a charter school near Charlotte was killed last week in a shootout in Alamance County while trying to rob a drug cartel's stash house, authorities said Wednesday.

Union Academy teacher Barney Dale Harris and his brother-in-law, Steven Alexander Stewart Jr., had been tracking the activities of the Sinaloa cartel moving drugs from Mexico through North Carolina in order to find the group's drug stash houses, Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said at a news conference.

A week ago, the pair went to a mobile home park in the Green Level community east of Burlington and broke into a home, where they lay in wait for the occupants, Johnson said. When Alonso Beltran Lara came home, he was bound hand and foot and killed execution-style, with two shots to the back of his head, the sheriff said.

At some point, Johnson said, a gun battle occurred. Deputies were called to the scene on Wyatt Road shortly before 1 a.m. April 8, when several people called 911 to report gunfire.

"It was almost like an old western shootout," Johnson said, noting investigators found 30 shell casings inside and outside the home and that bullet holes were in three nearby homes.

Harris, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, a mask and gloves, was dead inside the home, which had been ransacked by someone "looking for money, drugs or both," the sheriff said. A kilogram of cocaine was found in a bag near Lara's body, he said.

Investigators used footage from security cameras in the area and information from Harris' phone to track down Stewart to his home in Wadesboro, and a search there Sunday turned up firearms and "related objects tied to the crime scene" were seized, Johnson said.

Steven Alexander Stewart Jr.

Stewart, 32, was charged with first-degree burglary and first-degree murder in the case. He remains in the Alamance County jail without bond.

Juan Daniel Salinas Lara, who authorities believe lived in the home, is wanted on a cocaine trafficking charge.

Johnson and District Attorney Sean Boone said the investigation is ongoing and that more charges are likely – for example, Harris' killer hasn't been identified. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the State Bureau of Investigation are assisting with the case.

"When we are dealing with the Mexican drug cartels, somebody is probably going to die as a result of this," Johnson said. "The Mexican cartels, they don't forget. They're going to pay somebody back somewhere."

Alonso Beltran Lara, left, and Juan Daniel Salinas Lara

Harris had taught Spanish at Union Academy in Monroe for four years and also coached basketball and track there, according to the school website.

"The UA community is mourning the unexpected loss of teacher and coach Barney Harris,” school officials posted on Facebook on Saturday. “UA students, staff and families are asked to wear UA Spirit Wear on Monday, April 12, to celebrate the life of Coach Barney Harris, whose motto, 'All Love…No Fear,' will be forever a part of who we are as a school."

The post was deleted on Wednesday, and Harris' name was no longer listed on the website.

"Nothing surprises me," Johnson said when asked about a beloved teacher being involved in a drug-related shooting. "There's people in families that have relatives that violate the law, and they have no idea."

The sheriff blamed the shooting on a spike in illegal drugs flowing through Alamance County, noting that his office has seized 129 kilos of cocaine and nearly $2.3 million in cash since February.

"We've never seen that much cocaine in this county," he said. "The quantity is getting bigger and bigger because, in my opinion, of our open southern border."

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