The horrific alleged murder-suicide discovered at a homeless encampment Sunday in Sampson County, North Carolina, resulting in the deaths of four people, puts the spotlight on the increasingly urgent crisis of homelessness facing communities across the country.
Sampson County deputies are investigating after the four were found fatally shot at a homeless campsite in the woods near Autryville, North Carolina, on Sunday morning, according to WRAL News.
Deputies responded to reports of gunfire around 9:22 a.m. and discovered the bodies of two men and two women. Investigators believe all four had been residing in tents on the property for several weeks.
According to the landowner, who spoke to WRAL, the deceased were a homeless brother and sister who had previously been staying with their mother before being kicked out. Also killed were the girlfriend of the brother and the boyfriend of the sister.
Capt. Eric Pope of the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office told WRAL that the evidence suggests one man murdered the three others before turning the gun on himself.
Two men and two women were killed in a murder-suicide at a North Carolina homeless encampment Sunday morning, according to officials. https://t.co/fakK6iIxqa
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 27, 2023
The victims were identified as Daniel Jay Wiltshire, 44; Amber Rae King, 43; and Carrie Nichole Trampel, 41. All three suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
The deceased suspect was identified as Dwane Paul Miller, 41.
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While details are still emerging in this investigation, they point to some of the dangers — of violence, illness, despair and trauma — that the vulnerable homeless population confronts daily.
Makeshift camps can become breeding grounds for abuse when people are without access to help.
Minor conflicts can spiral into violence and mental health can deteriorate.
Unfortunately, instead of dealing with this crisis with proper mental health treatment and facilities, Democratic lawmakers use the crisis for their own benefit.
In a monologue on “Gutfeld” on Nov. 1, Fox News host Greg Gutfeld referred to it as “the homeless industrial complex.”
“The Department of Homeless Services employs 2,000 people and has an annual budget that has grown to over $2 billion. And take a guess who controls all those jobs, all that money? It’s almost always Dems,” he continued.
Gutfeld played a clip of former President Donald Trump, who has promised to get “the homeless off our streets” and bring those who are severely mentally disturbed “back to mental institutions where they belong, with the goal of reintegrating them back into society once they are well enough to manage,” he said.
“That’s not treading on their rights; it’s salvaging their most basic right to live with dignity and not die alone in degradation among maddening crowds and diesel-belching buses,” Gutfeld said.
Trump’s idea sounds like a sensible solution to any compassionate human being who wants to help troubled people and keep the streets safe for other residents.
But, as Gutfeld pointed out, Trump’s idea has “two key fatal flaws — It makes perfect sense, and there’s no money in it.”
