Nehemiah Locklear, 16, male, White/Caucasian, was killed in the early hours of October 25, 2025, when gunfire erupted at a sprawling Halloween party on Dixon Drive, down a rural dirt road outside Maxton in Robeson County. Deputies had been dispatched around 1:15 a.m. for a loud-music complaint, but 911 calls about shots fired began coming in before they arrived. They found Locklear and 49-year-old Jessie Locklear Jr. dead at the scene; authorities later said both victims were from Lumberton.
The gathering drew an estimated 300 people, and as the shooting started more than 150 fled into the darkness, leaving investigators to piece together a chaotic crime scene amid abandoned vehicles and discarded costumes.
What began as a night of music and dancing appears to have splintered into a confrontation between two groups, and then escalated as multiple shooters opened fire using multiple weapons. Thirteen people were struck by bullets in total; in addition to the two fatalities, eleven were injured, with victims ranging in age from 17 to 43. One person suffered life-threatening wounds and others were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The sheriff later emphasized there was no continuing threat to the broader community, but he condemned the senseless violence that turned a party into a mass-casualty scene.
The house at 298 Dixon Drive became the center of a sprawling investigation as crime scene tape fluttered in a light rain and detectives canvassed neighbors for video and witnesses. The Robeson County Sheriff's Office Homicide Division is leading the case with help from state Alcohol Law Enforcement agents and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the FBI has also been consulted as agencies worked through conflicting accounts from a crowd that scattered before deputies arrived. Authorities have identified multiple persons of interest and asked attendees to come forward with photos and names. As of the latest updates, no arrests have been announced, and investigators say progress is methodical in a case complicated by the size of the crowd, underage drinking, and the number of firearms believed to have been discharged.
