Copies of 911 calls requested by The News & Observer may explain why the alleged shooter has not been charged more than two weeks later.
A deputy responding to the shooting on Red Mountain Road in Rougemont, an unincorporated community in northern Durham County, found 39-year-old Matthew Lockamy fatally shot outside his home around 10:30 p.m. that Sunday.
Lockamy’s father told deputies he had shot his son during a physical altercation, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said previously.
A sheriff’s spokesperson did not return phone calls or emails from The N&O asking if the case was being investigated as self-defense.
“I had to shoot the man”
A man who identified himself as Lockamy’s father called 911 to report he had shot at Lockamy during a fight, according to audio recordings provided by the Sheriff’s Office.
“I had to shoot the man; he beat me up and came back to hurt me some more,” the caller said. “I feared for my life, and I shot at him. I think I may have killed him.”
The caller briefly explained that Lockamy had hurt him during an altercation and that he had fired a gun in his direction when he was “yelling and coming at me in the dark.”
He told the dispatcher Lockamy was his son and then could be heard uttering the phrases “beating up on his mother” and “not taking his medicine.”
He hung up later in the call, and a woman who picked up when the emergency dispatcher called back identified him as Lockamy’s father and said his face had been injured in a fight.
Previous 911 calls to the home
A history of 911 calls from the address shows deputies have responded to the home at least 10 times since 2022.
That includes two Priority 1 emergency calls, which require immediate assistance and can involve a threat to someone’s life.
Authorities responded to a domestic-violence disturbance in October 2022 and to an assault in September 2023 at the address, records show.
Tyler Dukes contributed to this report.