A Morganton man is sentenced to at least six years in prison for a conviction of robbery with a dangerous weapon and larceny of a motor vehicle.

43-year-old Billy Earl Murphy pleaded guilty in Burke Superior Court Thursday.

Reports say Murphy attacked a female on February 4^th 2017 as she walked to her vehicle.

He reportedly knocked her to the ground, struck her in the head, and held her at gunpoint.

Murphy attempted to conceal his identity using a mask and hood; however, his victim recognized him.

He then fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle, but was later located at a local convenience store in possession of the victim’s car and other items.

A Hickory woman convicted in a Burke County assault and robbery will now serve another 10 years for a similar incident in Old Fort.

59-year-old Patricia Welborn Hunley was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, robbery with a dangerous weapon and felony breaking and entering.

She was sentenced to 10 and one-half to nearly 14 years in prison.

In 2016, a male and two females had entered the home of an Old Fort man, beat him with a sledgehammer and robbed him.

The suspects were identified as Hunley, 34-year-old Samantha Moore and 43-year-old Stacy Heatley.

Moore and Heatley are both from Morganton, while Heatley was also involved in another brutal assault along with Hunley in the Salem area of Burke County.

A week after the Old Fort attack, 72-year-old Ronald Moody was beaten with a claw hammer, robbed, and left for dead.

Both Hunley and Heatley were charged with attempted first-degree murder in the Burke case and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Hickory Fire investigators now suspect the cause of an apartment fire Monday afternoon to have been intentional.

Firefighters discovered smoke and flames coming from the structure on 15^th Street Drive Northeast.

Officials located one person in a front apartment, carried them out of the burning building to an awaiting ambulance.

Reports say the victim was transported to a local hospital for injuries unrelated to the fire.

No other injuries were reported.

Fire damage was listed as major according to a release.

Hickory Police and Fire continue to investigate.

The seizure of 478 grams of methamphetamine by Lincoln County narcotics officers led to the arrest of an Upstate man.

A news release says an investigation into trafficking began in Lincoln February 1^st where the meth seized was valued at more than 38-thousand dollars.

The investigation further led to Pickens County, where authorities joined forces with Homeland Security officials to seize 2-point-7 pounds of crystal meth, and 1-point-5 pounds of liquid meth with a combined street value of 150-thousand dollars.

Pickens officers then arrested 57-year-old Bruce Allen Howland.

He is charged with two felony counts of trafficking meth and is being held without bond.

The investigation is continuing and more arrests are expected.

State lawmakers have re-introduced a push to allow NC teachers to carry guns in school.

Senate Bill 192, which is also being called the School Security Act of 2019, would offer a five-percent salary boost to teachers who complete basic law enforcement training.

Teachers would then have to re-certify training yearly.

Republican Senator Warren Daniel was quoted as saying the teachers would receive the training equivalent of a reserve deputy.

If it passes, the bill would provide more than 9-million dollars to cover training and raises for educators.

Teachers reportedly would also be given the same arresting powers on campus as school resource officers.