College Tailgate Takes Tragic Turn
Two young men — one a Marine Corps officer — were shot to death Saturday at a tailgate party before a college football game, and authorities were searching for two suspects.
Witnesses said a fistfight preceded the shootings. One victim was dead at the scene; the other died at a hospital. Neither was a student at the university.
The victims, identified as Kevin M. McCann, 23, of Chicago, and 2nd Lt. Brett Johnson Harman, 23, of Park Ridge, Ill., were tailgating before North Carolina State University's season-opening football game against Richmond.
A witness, Brian Smith, 31, said the men had been tossing a football when a car drove recklessly in a parking lot packed with football fans. He said the men pulled the blond-haired driver from his car and beat him, pushing his head into the dirt.
The blond man left in his car, shouting curses and threatening revenge, Smith said. He returned later and asked Smith where to find the men who had beaten him, saying he had "a .38 Smith & Wesson for them."
Smith, who said the man appeared intoxicated, pointed in the direction of the victims and heard gunshots a short time later.
Smith ran to the shooting scene and found one victim wounded in the face, the other in the upper torso.
"My reaction is that I got two guys killed," Smith said.
The second suspect drove the gunman from the scene, Smith said.
"I saw the two guys, and they weren't sprinting out of there. They were all nonchalant jogging out of there," said another witness, Jason Seaton.
Seaton, said he 32, found the two victims on the ground and used two of his shirts to try to stop the bleeding. But it was too late for one of them.
"I saw him gasp three times, and he was dead." Seaton said. "When I get out of here, when nobody's looking, I'm gonna cry about this."
Investigators said they were searching for two brothers who were wanted for questioning. They were N.C. State student Timothy Wayne Johnson, 22, and Tony Harrell Johnson, 20. Each of the men had addresses in Raleigh and Tarboro.