A property-line dispute in the Ellendale community of Taylorsville, North Carolina, escalated into gunfire on the morning of August 20, 2025. Deputies responding to Never Mountain Road found two men with gunshot wounds; 65-year-old Robert Alan Carpenter was pronounced dead at the scene and the other man was taken to hospital for treatment.

The initial 911 call at 11:14 a.m. reported a civil dispute, and a second call five minutes later reported shots fired. Investigators say both men fired multiple shots during the confrontation, which began as a boundary dispute and turned into a shootout. The other party has been identified as 74-year-old Joey Albert Williams of Taylorsville, a former Alexander County Sheriff’s Office deputy who retired in 2009; because a former deputy was involved, the sheriff asked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to take the lead.

As of the evening of August 20 no arrests had been announced while the SBI processed the scene and interviewed witnesses. Does anyone in Ellendale or Taylorsville have information about the dispute or what led to the shooting?