KERNERSVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — A man is in custody in connection to multiple homicides about 20 miles apart in Greensboro and Kernersville
Thomas Jackson Gillie, 22, of Greensboro, has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in Forsyth County, according to Kernersville police.
He was given no bond.
At about 1:20 a.m. Thursday morning, Greensboro officers found Thomas’s father, Douglas Lane Gillie Jr., 62, dead on the 5100 block of Bayberry Street, off of Lawndale.
Neighbors tell FOX8 that they did not see or hear anything out of the ordinary and were shocked to find out that something like this happened in their quiet neighborhood.
“I was still in bed, and the doorbell rang, and an officer was at the door asking me if I heard anything last night and said they were investigating next door that the father had died,” said Edwin Powell who lives next door to the Greensboro crime scene.
Kernersville officers responded to a shooting at Stafford Country Lane after midnight Thursday morning, according to a Kernersville Police Department news release.
Arriving officers exchanged gunfire with Thomas, and he surrendered to police shortly after.
Officers then found two male victims who had been shot. They were both declared dead.
A female victim was also shot and taken to the hospital, police say.
Residents at the Kernersville apartment complex told FOX8 they awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of gunshots.
Nathaniel Burt, 36, was among those shot and killed. Burt was a father of four and was reportedly on his way to work when the shooting happened.
He worked for FedEx also owned a catering business, according to his sister.
Burt’s family says he was filled with love, laughter and jokes, and he loved everyone around him.
The investigation is ongoing.
Gillie appeared in court in Forsyth County at around 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning. He faces a maximum penalty of death for the murder charges and a maximum penalty of a little more than 40 years imprisonment for the attempted murder charges.
Gillie will make his next court appearance on July 20 and he is still being held without bond.
