A 22-year-old man was killed and two others were injured Thursday when an SUV ran a red light and slammed into another vehicle at the intersection of N.C. 16 and Buffalo Shoals Road in Catawba County. The collision happened around 11:30 a.m., according to state troopers. Emergency crews pronounced the SUV driver dead at the scene and transported the two other people to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
State troopers identified the SUV driver as 22-year-old Sheck Kamara and the other driver as 19-year-old Noah Hocking, as reported by WCCB. The vehicles involved were a Hyundai Tucson and a Ford Explorer. A passenger in the Tucson was also taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Troopers told the outlet that neither speed nor impairment is believed to have contributed to the crash.
Investigation Underway
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol is leading the investigation and will reconstruct the scene and review vehicle damage and witness statements. The agency's collision information page notes that crash reports can take up to 48 hours to be entered into the official system, so a formal report may be posted later, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Intersection History
This stretch of N.C. 16 near Buffalo Shoals has been the scene of serious wrecks before. A 2021 head-on crash at a nearby spot killed a mother and her 3-year-old and closed the highway for hours, WBTV reported. The N.C. Department of Transportation has been widening N.C. 16 and at times closing portions of Buffalo Shoals Road for construction work, the agency outlined in a 2021 press release from NCDOT.
Legal Status
Troopers told WCCB that no charges will be filed in the crash and that the investigation remains open while officials finalize the crash report. The State Highway Patrol did not immediately release additional details, and a formal collision report may be published in the agency's database in the coming days.
