On the evening of November 4, 2023, officers in Troutman, North Carolina, found 18-year-old Alexander Jeffrey Hipple and 20-year-old Zachary Craig shot inside a vehicle near the 200 block of Mills Avenue. Craig drove the wounded men to a nearby Food Lion; emergency crews pronounced Hipple dead at the scene. Craig survived and was treated at a regional medical center.

Investigators say Hipple and Craig had arranged to meet two people in the parking lot of 204 Mills Avenue for a marijuana sale. The suspects allegedly produced firearms and demanded the drugs; as Hipple and Craig tried to flee, the suspects opened fire. Hipple was struck three times; Craig was hit once. Authorities identified a 17-year-old male and 19-year-old James Richard Gann of Cornelius as suspects. The juvenile was arrested November 7, 2023; Gann surrendered to Iredell County Jail on November 16, 2023. Both face charges including first-degree murder and related offenses.

Born August 3, 2005, in Charlotte, Alexander Alex Jeffrey Hipple had graduated in 2023 from the Community School of Davidson. He enjoyed swimming, fishing with his father, sports cars and travel, and was working full-time at McDonald’s while taking a gap year before college. A visitation was held November 17 and a memorial service November 18; the family asked for donations to a scholarship in his memory. If anyone knew Alex or has information about the shooting, please come forward.