HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — The Huntersville Police Department says a 21-year-old man killed three other men before turning the gun on himself as the month of June began.
In a news release Friday, the department says the investigation began on June 1, just before 3 p.m. Huntersville officers say they responded to help with a Medic call along Caldwell Station Road. They found 58-year-old Michael Euguene Elliot dead inside a home and launched a homicide investigation based on the circumstances surrounding Elliot's death. Police reported a family member found Elliot in the mobile home he lived in.
The investigation stretched into the next day, June 2. Huntersville police say they located a second victim in the woods nearby, identified as 26-year-old Kendrick Logan Knight, who was also a member of the mobile home community. But Knight would not be the last victim; the investigation continued into Thursday, June 3 when detectives say they found 41-year-old Phillip Daryl Jewell dead inside his home from an apparent gunshot wound, which was in the same community the other two victims were found in.
"This is not something that has happened before, so I can't say that it's normal," Sergeant Odette Saglimbeni, Public Information Officer for the Huntersville Police Department said.
As they investigated Jewell's home, police say they found the suspect, 21-year-old Michael Jacob Matocha, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said Matocha and Knight were known to be friends and that Knight was connected to the other two victims. Matocha was a Huntersville resident but did not live in the mobile home community.
Family members of Jewell created a GoFundMe page to help raise enough money to send his body back home to family in Kentucky.
Sgt. Odette Saglimbeni, the public information officer for the department, said the sensitive nature of the investigation and the belief this was an isolated incident warranted the department from withholding information for a few days. Family members were notified of their loved ones' deaths, however.
Saglimbeni also noted security cameras were found on a property in the community but had not reviewed any footage. She also said it was believed all three victims died on the same day.
The investigation is still ongoing, and police have asked anyone with more information to call them at 704-464-5400 or North Mecklenburg Crime Stoppers at 704-896-7867. Tips can also be left online.
"Huntersville is a very safe place, our officers do great work, they work hard in the community, this was, unfortunately, a very tragic and again isolated incident," Saglimbeni said.
Note: WCNC Charlotte is choosing to show the mugshots of the suspects in this case because of the public interest in the case and the severity of the crime.