A Newton man will spend up to nine years in a North Carolina state prison after admitting he barged into his ex-girlfriend's Hickory apartment the same day she broke up with him, assaulted her, and opened fire inside the building, sending bullets through the floor into a unit where a mother and three children lived. Tyraun Lamont Clark, 49, pleaded guilty in Catawba County Superior Court to first-degree burglary, discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling, and misdemeanor domestic violence.
According to Queen City News, the female victim had kicked Clark out of her apartment following their breakup before he returned later that day. Once back inside, Clark assaulted the woman, then produced a firearm and fired multiple rounds into the floor of her third-floor unit, according to the outlet's reporting. A second victim told investigators she saw Clark leave the apartment still carrying the gun.
Hickory Police Department officers were dispatched to the Glenwood Commons apartment complex at 11:13 p.m. on September 30, 2025, after reports of gunfire, per the Catawba County District Attorney's Office. The rounds Clark fired traveled down into a second-floor apartment occupied by a mother and three juvenile children, and prosecutors say he also fired multiple rounds into the ground of the building's breezeway before fleeing.
Two Hurt, Suspect Caught the Next Morning
Two people were injured in the shooting. Both were transported to a local hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries before being released, WCNC reported at the time. Evidence collected at the scene corroborated the victims' accounts, per the same reporting.
Clark was arrested the following morning, October 1, 2025, during a traffic stop in neighboring Conover, carried out with assistance from the Conover Police Department, according to the city of Hickory. During questioning after his arrest, Clark confessed to his actions, and Hickory Police Department investigators, with the case handled by Tammie Johnson, interviewed him as part of the investigation, per Queen City News.
Charges Narrowed Through Plea Deal
Clark was initially charged with a long list of offenses, including assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, four counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property, first-degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of discharging a firearm within an enclosure to incite fear, and misdemeanor domestic violence, according to WCNC. Public arrest filings at the time listed Clark as a resident of Kings Grant Drive in Newton, the county seat of Catawba County.
Assistant District Attorney Kyle Smith prosecuted the case for the state, with assistance from legal assistant Amy Bishoff, per the district attorney's office. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped several charges, including five counts of discharging a firearm within an enclosure to incite fear. Superior Court Judge Karen Eady Williams of Mecklenburg County presided over the August 19 proceedings in Catawba County and sentenced Clark to six to nine years, ordering him into the custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction, according to the district attorney's office.
What the Charges Carry Under State Law
First-degree burglary is a Class D felony under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-51, carrying a minimum presumptive sentence of 38 to 64 months for someone with no prior record, according to the Arnold & Smith PLLC law firm. The statute covers breaking into an occupied residential structure at night with intent to commit a felony inside. Discharging a firearm into occupied property is a separate Class E felony under G.S. § 14-34.1, which can carry active prison terms of up to 63 months depending on aggravating factors, per the Wilkie Law Group.
Domestic violence remains a persistent driver of local gun violence. Intimate partner violence accounts for one in three female homicide deaths in Catawba County, and 51% of all local homicides involved an argument or conflict, according to North Carolina Department of Public Safety data from 2025. The Glenwood Commons case adds to a string of apartment-complex shootings that Hoodline has previously reported on in Hickory over the past two years, including a separate case involving a pool-party mass shooting still working through Catawba County courts.
