A person is dead after a shooting broke out around 1:20 a.m. Sunday at Tucker's Grove Campground in Iron Station, even as Lincoln County Sheriff's Office deputies were on the grounds providing security for the historic site's annual camp meeting. The victim was rushed to a hospital, where they died a short time later. The suspect fled the scene, and as of Sunday, investigators had not released a name for either the victim or the shooter.
According to WSOC-TV, deputies pursued the suspect after the gunfire erupted but the shooter managed to escape. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said it is investigating the shooting, though the case remains a developing story with the victim's identity still withheld during the ongoing probe. The presence of deputies at the moment shots rang out raises an obvious question that has not yet been answered publicly: how the gunman was able to flee despite active law enforcement already stationed on the grounds.
A Century-Old Gathering Turns Into a Crime Scene
The shooting struck at the heart of one of the nation's most historically significant Black religious gatherings. Tucker's Grove Camp Meeting Ground was established in 1874 in Iron Station and is recognized as one of the oldest continuous African American camp meetings in the country, having earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places on October 18, 1972, according to Wikipedia. The 5-acre grounds are centered on an open-air timber shelter known as the Arbor, ringed by roughly 100 wooden cabins, or “tents,” where families lodge during the revival, as detailed by Lake Norman Publications.
The gathering that drew crowds to the campground early Sunday is the annual 10-day Tucker's Grove Camp Meeting, which traditionally runs from the third Saturday of August through the culminating “Big Sunday” on the fourth Sunday. That timing means hundreds of families were staying overnight in the cabins surrounding the Arbor when gunfire broke out in the pre-dawn hours. The property is jointly sponsored and maintained by six local churches — five United Methodist congregations, Tucker's Grove, Brevard, Ebenezer, Rock Hill, and St. James, along with Gold Hill Baptist Church.
Sheriff's Office Leads Investigation
Sheriff Bill Beam leads the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, the agency now tasked with identifying the shooter and determining what led to the gunfire. The sheriff's office provides primary law enforcement coverage for unincorporated communities across the county, including Iron Station, and had assigned deputies to the campground specifically to manage safety during the large annual gathering.
This is not the first violent incident to draw scrutiny to Lincoln County law enforcement in recent months. In April, deputies arrested an Iron Station man on first-degree arson charges following a residential porch fire in the community, according to WCNC. Last year, an officer-involved shooting following a domestic dispute at a Lincolnton park left a man dead and a woman critically injured, an incident that triggered a state review alongside county deputies.
A Legacy of Peaceful Fellowship
The camp meeting has long been treated as a cherished civic institution well beyond Lincoln County. In September 2024, U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry formally recognized Tucker's Grove Camp Meeting in the Congressional Record as a century-old summer tradition celebrating faith, family, and community in North Carolina's 10th Congressional District, according to records from the U.S. Government Publishing Office. The site's leadership has also taken steps in the past to manage safety and order during the multi-day gathering. During the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020, campground trustees enforced mandatory 8 p.m. nightly closures and shut off electricity and water to prevent overnight stays, according to Lake Norman Publications, underscoring how central late-night fellowship normally is to the tradition.
For now, the shooting remains under active investigation, with the sheriff's office yet to release the identities of the victim or the suspect, or offer a motive for the gunfire that shattered the closing weekend of one of the region's oldest continuous community traditions. WSOC-TV noted the story is developing, and further details on the victim and the search for the suspect are expected as the investigation continues.
