But by the time deputies arrived at Fuller’s home in the 100 block of Trent Road in Statesville, a confrontation was no longer a threat.
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According to reports, she tried to run to get help right before the shootings occurred.
Josiah Fuller, 3, and Uriah Fuller, 4, were shot by Fuller early Sunday morning before he turned the gun on himself, Campbell said. Fuller was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in critical condition.
Officials say Fuller fought with the boy’s mother before he shot them.
The names of the boys were not immediately released. That’s when she left the home, not thinking Fuller would harm the boys.
Officers were called to the home near Statesville around 3:30 a.m. Sunday after reports of an intoxicated man firing a weapon.
The person who called 911 was Fuller’s brother, who was at the house at the time but was apparently not injured.
Iredell county sheriff Darren Campbell told The Charlotte Observer the boys were brothers and their father was the sole suspect.
Fuller’s Facebook page says he’s from Cooperstown, New York. The family at this point in the investigation appears to have been in North Carolina for approximately three to four years. A second neighbor gave a similar timeline. That case involved a verbal altercation between Fuller and his wife.
Investigators have found a witness who was speaking on the phone with Shawn Fuller, 31, when he allegedly killed his two children. “Good God a mercy”, neighbor Delmas Smarl said.
Neighbors say Fuller carried the gun around often.
Patterson’s grandson played with Fuller’s sons.
Patterson said Fuller was anxious someone was trying to break into his house.
A picture on Fuller’s Facebook page showed a paper target shooting sheet with a human silhouette.
On Saturday, Patterson said he drove into his driveway around 12.30pm and heard shooting in the backyard.
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Patterson said the shooting next door was so common and disturbing that his girlfriend had moved out of the house.
