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Questions persist after last week’s shooting of suspect
By Justin Goble and Lynn Hotaling
Family and friends of a robbery suspect shot last Tuesday (Nov. 15) are questioning the actions of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Emergency Tactical Team shot 34-year-old Dewann Christopher McCollum at approximately 9:52 a.m. Tuesday morning after he allegedly lunged at them with a 10-inch kitchen knife in an empty unit at Moss Apartments in Cullowhee.
McCollum was the chief suspect in an armed robbery and shooting at Cullowhee’s China Dragon restaurant that occurred early last Tuesday (Nov. 16).
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Members of slain robbery suspect Dewann McCollum’s family gathered last Wednesday (Nov. 16) outside Harris Regional Hospital to discuss the circumstances surrounding his death. McCollum, who was identified by the owner of the China Dragon restaurant in Cullowhee as the man who shot three employees and attempted to sexually assault another, was killed by deputies Tuesday morning (Nov. 15). Two deputies are currently on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation, according to Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe. Dewann McCollum’s family and friends were at the hospital to be with his sister, who gave birth to a daughter on Nov. 16. From left are Dewann McCollum’s cousin Anquell McCollum, a Western Carolina University assistant basketball coach; his mother, Brenda McCollum; his fiance, Lakisha McKnight; his aunt Louise Patterson; family friend Deborah Henry; and Anquell McCollum’s wife, Marie McCollum. – Herald photo by Nick Breedlove
Employees Jie Lin and Cai Bolin, along with owner Qi Lin, were struck by gunfire during the robbery attempt. Reports indicate that the suspect attempted to sexually assault employee Becky Lin also.
As of this past weekend, Qi Lin was released from Mission Hospitals, while the other two victims remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
According to the search warrant served last Tuesday, authorities had reason to suspect McCollum because Qi Lin identified him as the assailant. Lin said he recognized McCollum as the man who had helped deliver a refrigerator Lin purchased from one of McCollum’s employers, Wanda Moss.
Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe said there was also evidence found at the robbery scene that SBI forensics officers are analyzing.
“There was trace and latent evidence found at the scene,” Ashe said. “We’ve submitted it to the SBI lab in Raleigh, and we’re awaiting their results and the autopsy report. It does take time to complete these things, especially with lab testing.”
Authorities are also searching the Tuckaseigee River between China Dragon and Moss Apartments for the .22-caliber pistol that was used in the robbery. Deputies believe the robber threw the gun into the river after fleeing on foot from the Chinese restaurant.
The gun used in the robbery attempt matched the description of a gun that was stolen two days prior to the robbery, Ashe said last week.
Though no additional information has surfaced with regard to the weapon used in the China Dragon shootings, more details of Dewann McCollum’s criminal history have come to light.
Records on file in Cumberland County show multiple charges against the robbery suspect.
McCollum was found guilty on charges of possessing and trafficking cocaine with intent to sell in 2004. He faced 31 years in prison, but entered a plea agreement where he agreed to be an undercover informant for authorities there.
Two investigations into events surrounding McCollum’s death are currently taking place, Ashe said. The Sheriff’s Office and the SBI are conducting a joint investigation of the China Dragon shootings, while SBI agents are independently investigating into McCollum’s shooting. The SBI investigation is standard protocol after a shooting by law enforcement officers, Ashe said.
Three SETT members were in the room when McCollum was shot, Ashe said. Two are on administrative leave with pay, which is also standard procedure after a shooting involving law enforcement personnel.
Ashe declined to name the officers, citing the ongoing SBI investigation. He said since the officers were on administrative leave rather than suspended, their status was not public record.
N.C. Press Association attorney Amanda Martin said she felt the information should be public because the statute lists “other change in position classification” of state and county employees as public record.
Ashe said that he was unsure when the investigations would conclude. Findings of the SBI’s independent investigation would go to District Attorney Mike Bonfoey, and it will be up to Bonfoey whether those findings are made public, the sheriff said.
Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe, left, talks with District Attorney Mike Bonfoey, center, and a State Bureau of Investigation agent outside the China Dragon restaurant in Cullowhee where three people were shot last week during an armed robbery. The suspect, Dewann McCollum, was later fatally shot by law enforcement officers when they entered a unit at Moss Apartments and found him brandishing a knife, Ashe said. – Herald photo by Nick Breedlove
“It could take two days or it could take two weeks,” Ashe said. “I think that most of the interviews (with eyewitnesses) have been completed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the investigation is almost over.”
McCollum’s friends and family say the robbery attempt was something out of character for him.
Debbie Puckett, whose husband Lonnie is the manager of Moss Apartments and employed McCollum for carpentry work around the complex, said McCollum was a nice, respectful man, and that she thought he was incapable of such a crime.
“You couldn’t find a better person,” Puckett said. “He stayed to himself, and he went to church. He always called me ‘Miss Debbie,’ and called Lonnie ‘Mr. Lonnie.’”
Debbie Puckett also questioned the force used by authorities, and where they encountered McCollum after entering the apartment. Ashe said last Tuesday that McCollum was shot after the suspect jumped out of a closet brandishing a knife. However, the closets in the apartment are located in the bedrooms in the rear of the apartment, not in the front, Debbie Puckett said.
“As soon as the door was kicked in, shots were fired,” Debbie Puckett said. “So (McCollum) was either in the living room, or they moved pretty fast to get to a bedroom.”
Debbie Puckett told The Herald that she heard “four or five” shots after the SETT team officers entered the apartment.
Another of McCollum’s acquaintances, who asked not to be identified, said McCollum had just cashed a paycheck and had no need to rob the restaurant.
“Dewann had $400 dollars in his pocket,” she said. “That was a lot of money to him.”
McCollum was also a devoted family man, which she said raised doubt to his ability to commit such a crime.
“He was a sweet, gentle, loving dad,” the person said. “He lived for his 10-year-old son.”
Several of McCollum’s family members also question whether he was capable of committing the crimes at the Chinese restaurant, and that they want answers about the circumstances surrounding his death.
Western Carolina University assistant basketball coach Anquell McCollum, Dewann McCollum’s first cousin, said family members had received conflicting information.
“We’ve been told several things. At one point we were told he had a gun, one time we were told he had a weapon, and later on we were told he had a knife,” Anquell McCollum said Wednesday (Nov. 16) outside Harris Regional Hospital, where family members had gathered to visit Dewann McCollum’s sister, who had given birth to a daughter earlier that day.
Speaking on behalf of himself, his aunt, Dewann McCollum’s fiance and family friends, Anquell McCollum said the group was numb with sadness and disbelief.
“Dewann McCollum was loved by his family and friends and his community in Fayetteville,” said Anquell McCollum, a former basketball standout at WCU who led the Catamounts to their only appearance in the NCAA tournament. “After hearing that Dewann only had a knife, we felt that it did not warrant that deadly a force.”
When asked if he believed his cousin was the one who had shot the Chinese restaurant owner and employees and tried to sexually assault another, Anquell McCollum said “no.”
“I do not believe he was the individual that perpetrated those acts,” Anquell McCollum said.
Anquell McCollum said he had just arrived at Moss Apartments, where he lives, at the time his cousin was shot.
When asked if Dewann McCollum owned a gun, Anquell McCollum responded, “Not to my knowledge.”
Anquell McCollum said last week that the family is waiting for answers.
“I know everybody was doing their job,” he said. “But this does not fit with Dewann McCollum.”
On behalf of his family, Anquell McCollum also expressed concern for the Lin family members who had been injured during the robbery.
“We truly believe in God and Jesus Christ, and we send our condolences to the victims at the Chinese restaurant,” he said. “We will keep them in our prayers.”
Herald Assistant Editor Carey Phillips contributed to this report.
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