Neighbor Brian Stack points to murder scene

UPDATED 12 NOON. By Dave Yochum. Cornelius Police are investigating a homicide that occurred before midnight in a parking lot at the Admiral’s Quarters condominium complex just off West Catawba at the foot of Westmoreland. After a report of shots fired, officers found a white male on the scene who appeared to have died as a result of gunshots. The incident occurred in the overflow parking at 18817 Nautical Drive.

The motive could have been robbery, according to a helpful neighbor the victim’s girlfriend sought out immediately after the shooting.

Brian Stack, who lives on the second floor of the first building on the right of Nautical in the condo complex, was the first on the scene. Stack said he heard shots while still awake around 11:30 pm on Labor Day. The victim lived on the top floor above Stack and his wife Ronnie.

“Something made me go to the window to look and there she is, running….she ran up the stairs and pounded on my door,” Stack said. The Stacks were friends with the couple, but only know their first names. Stack said she told him the perpetrator tried to snatch her purse. Her knees were bloody, he said, apparently from trying to hold on to her purse. Stack said he saw groceries strewn near the man’s body.

Stack described the victim as a “decent guy…who worked smaller jobs involving computers.” They talked occasionally and were always good neighbors.

18817 NAUTICAL DRIVE

Stack called police and they ran outside to the body, where the boyfriend was sprawled on the pavement in a pool of blood. Stack said it was clear he was already dead. “It looked like he took all the shots,” Stack said.

The overflow parking area is about 150 feet from the entrance to the condos at 18817 Nautical.

Admiral’s Quarters is normally quiet and peaceful, Stack said. Around 2012 a domestic case resulted in a woman being killed at Admiral’s Quarters.

Stack said the murder Monday night is certainly not a domestic incident.

Police are requesting anyone with information to contact the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773 or North Meck Crime Stoppers at 704-896-7867.

The victim was in his late 30s or early 40s, Stack said.

“I spoke to him two days ago, and now he’s gone,” Stack said. “You start to feel numb because of all the news in Charlotte.” This was different. Stack said he and his wife did not get to sleep until after 4 am. Three hours later, the crime scene was wrapped up and the crime scene tape—it had been everywhere—was gone.