Early morning violence disrupted the calm of Hickory on Sunday, when police were called to 1942 Catawba Valley Boulevard SE after reports of a shooting incident. It was approximately 12:43 a.m. when Hickory Police Officers arrived on the scene, they found that what had begun as a physical brawl in a parking area had escalated alarmingly—shots fired into a gathered crowd. In a turn of events that seems almost providential, no injuries were reported.
In the swift response that followed, police were able to quickly locate the suspects' vehicle. Information provided by eyewitnesses played a crucial role in the identification of Garon Nathaniel Killian, 20, of Lenoir, and Kylee Latod Simpson, 18, of Hickory. It was the quick work of the officers to then apprehend them, a detail not lost on those who understand the stakes of street justice and the value of swift law enforcement intervention.
According to the Hickory Police Department's report, Killian and Simpson now face serious charges including seven counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, going armed to the terror of the public, and discharging a firearm in city limits. It's a litany of charges that draws a grim picture of that night's events and the potential for tragedy that was, by fortune or fate, narrowly avoided.
