A suspect wanted in connection with a shooting incident April 11th in Hickory, was taken into custody in Gamewell. Numerous agencies responded to Playmore Beach Road where 23-year-old Michael Emmanuel J Tucker was arrested without incident. He was taken to Catawba County for service of warrants for Shooting into an Occupied Dwelling amd Possession of a Firearm by Felon. A second person, 21-year-old Brooklyn Nicole Hollifield was arrested for interfering with the apprehension of Tucker. Agencies assisting at the scene included the Caldwell and Burke Sheriff's Departments, Lenoir Police, the SBI and U.S.Marshals.

Traffic stops in McDowell County lead deputies to drugs and guns. On April 7th, a McDowell deputy stopped a vehicle for a fictitious tag being driven by 30-year-old Holly Leighann Willis and the passenger, 29-year-old Robert Andrew, both of Marion. A search of the car turned up a pistol and drugs. State Troopers also cited Willis for traffic violations. In a separate but related incident on April 5^th, a deputy stopped a truck on 70 East because the driver ran a stop sign. Willis was a passenger in the truck, and a handgun in the purse of Willis was reported stolen from a Marion resident.

High school students in Caldwell County participated in the North Carolina SkillsUSA competition with two students earning state titles. Riley McNeil of South Caldwell finished first in Construction Estimating and Caleb Crisp, senior at West Caldwell, won the state championship in plumbing for the third straight year.

In another competition, Rylee Carter, an eighth-grade student at Collettsville School, won 1st place in the Original Art Category in North Carolina’s Career Development Month Poetry and Art Contest.