On July 23, 2025, locksmith and small-business owner Randy Stewart, 61, was found fatally wounded outside a home in the 300 block of NE 49th Street in Oak Island, North Carolina. Oak Island police were dispatched for reports of gunfire shortly after 6:18 p.m.; Stewart was pronounced dead at the scene. He owned Stewart Enterprises Locksmith Service and the shooting occurred during a service call to the residence.

Authorities arrested the homeowner, 40-year-old Brian Reed Grant, and initially charged him with second-degree murder. At Grant’s first court appearance a judge denied bond while investigators described the encounter unfolding outside the vacation home. Police body-camera footage from the incident includes Grant saying Stewart held a knife to his throat, and Grant’s attorney raised a claim of self-defense.

Later reporting indicated prosecutors upgraded the charge and that Grant remained the sole named suspect as the case proceeded. Does anyone have information about Stewart’s last service call or who might have witnessed the encounter on NE 49th Street?