Hamlet Police charge man with attempted murder; 3 other arrests pending

HAMLET — Police have charged one of three men suspected in a shooting earlier this month.

Officers with the Hamlet Police Department responded to Buttercup Drive around 6:30 p.m. May 4 to a report of multiple shots being fired, according to Maj. Hudson Chitwood.

One male victim was shot in the leg and officers applied a tourniquet on the wound at the scene, Chitwood said.

While at the scene, officers charged Joe Lewis Tyson with a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed gun and a felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Tyson wasn’t one of the shooters, but is related to one, according to Chitwood.

The investigation, Chitwood said, included multiple crime scenes in the area and the hospital where the victim was taken.

After the shooting, Chitwood said a search warrant was executed at a home associated with the shooting and “critical evidence was seized.”

Investigators obtained video and were able to identify one of the shooters as 33-year-old Nicholas Termaine McCary, who police say is a documented gang member.

With help from the Richmond County Probation and Parole office, investigators reportedly found McCary hiding in the attic of his father’s home on May 23.

McCary was arrested and charged with: attempted first-degree murder; assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury; and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Chitwood said more arrests are pending as there are three other suspected shooters involved in the incident.

Online records with the Richmond County Jail show McCary is also facing unrelated charges of: breaking and entering to terrorize or injure; assault on a female; communicating threats; injury to personal property; and failure to appear on a felony.

McCrary is being held on a combined $1,550,000 secured bond and has court dates scheduled for June 10, 13 and 24.

Tyson’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 11.

Records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction show McCary is currently serving a 12-month suspended sentence following a Feb. 6 conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon.

McCary spent nearly five years behind bars, from 2017-2022, following a conviction on charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon, second-degree kidnapping and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. Following his release, he went back for a three-month violation.

While he was serving that sentence, in 2018, McCary was convicted of assault inflicting serious bodily injury in Columbus County.

Records show McCary was first convicted in 2012 on two counts of assault by pointing a gun.

Tyson has a criminal background dating back nearly four decades, starting with misdemeanor larceny in 1986.

In 1991, Tyson was convicted on several assault charges, including three counts of assault on a female, as well as injury to personal property and resisting a public officer.

His most recent conviction was in 1999 on charges of common law robbery, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and first-degree burglary. He was released from prison in 2016.

Other previous convictions include:

• 1993 – receiving stolen goods
• 1997 – assault inflicting serious injury, misdemeanor larceny
• 1998 – simple assault, five counts of writing a worthless check

All of Tyson’s prior convictions were in Scotland County.

All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.