GREENVILLE (AP) — A man who investigators think shot four people near a Greenville Walmart appears to have planned the shooting but picked out his victims at random, Greenville Police Chief Hassan Aden said Sunday.
Aden identified the suspect as Lakim Anthony Faust and said the 23-year-old Greenville man will be charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder when he recovers from gunshot wounds he suffered as police took him into custody Friday.
Investigators haven’t found any links between Faust and the four victims, Aden said at a news conference Sunday. But evidence gathered during a search of Faust’s home appears to show he had some plan for the attack and wanted to shoot a number of people, the chief said.
“Some of the way, the manner with which he carried it out, sort of indicates that he had some idea to what he wanted to do. But we don’t know that for certain,” Aden said.
Police said Faust used a pistol-gripped shotgun to shoot a man in a car outside a law firm, crossed five lanes of traffic and shot three more people outside a Walmart in the city of about 87,000 people around 85 miles east of Raleigh.
More than 100 rounds of shotgun ammunition were found on Faust after police shot him, Aden said.
A phone listing for Faust couldn’t be found, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether he has a lawyer.
Faust is recovering from wounds to his arms and legs. Aden would not say when he might be released from the hospital.
Faust had a short criminal record that included property crimes but no signs of violence, Aden said.
The police chief visited the four people wounded before Sunday’s news conference. He said some had serious injuries, but they all are recovering. He did not release their names or conditions.
Authorities serving a search warrant on Faust’s home first sent in a robot to check for any other victims or possible traps inside, but Aden said they didn’t find any.
Police did find documents and computers that are helping investigators figure out why Faust started shooting, Aden said. The computer has been sent to FBI headquarters to be analyzed further, he said.
“It is a very complex investigation. We still are talking to a lot of people and looking at his background,” Aden said.
Investigators have no evidence anyone helped Faust in the shootings, but they also haven’t ruled that out, the police chief said.
The officers who shot Faust have been put on administrative leave while the State Bureau of Investigation investigates the shooting.