A Valdese man has been arrested for entering a local business while openly armed with a pistol in his hand.

Reports from the Burke Sheriff’s Office say deputies responded to O’Mara Incorporated on Fashion Avenue in Rutherford College last Friday to reports of an armed subject.

Former employee 40-year-old Pheng Lee had reportedly entered the business through an employee door and was walking through the building while holding a pistol.

As officers approached the business, they were further advised the subject had left the property in a silver Lexus.

Lee was stopped by authorities and complied with their commands; while officers seized a loaded handgun from the front seat of his vehicle.

Witnesses at the business reported Lee had been looking for relatives.

Lee was charged with going armed to the terror of the public, second degree trespassing, and felonious breaking and entering.

He was placed in the Burke Catawba Confinement facility under a 251-thousand-dollar secured bond.

An inmate convicted of first-degree murder in Cumberland County was discovered dead at Marion Correctional Institution after an apparent suicide reports say.

30-year-old Jermaine Lamar Johnson was found unresponsive in his cell Saturday evening just before 9 at the McDowell County facility.

Reports state prison medical staff and paramedics attempted to revive him but were unsuccessful.

State Department of Public safety records show Johnson was serving one of two consecutive life prison terms after being charged with murder in Fayetteville in 2011 for the shooting deaths of Benita McMillan and Tierra Underwood.

Johnson’s death remains under investigation by the NC Department of Public Safety.

A Sherills Ford man was taken into custody after officers seized drugs and a firearm at his residence.

43-year-old David Lewis Bradshaw was charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession with intent to sell or deliver meth, possession of meth, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, and maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance.

After receiving a tip that Bradshaw was allegedly involved in meth distribution, investigators obtained a warrant to search his home.

Officers discovered over three ounces of meth, 3-point-75 ounces of marijuana, assorted prescription pills, and a handgun.

Bradshaw was jailed under a 75-thousand-dollar secured bond.