A shots-fired call in the small Craven County community of Dover set off a chase that stretched into neighboring Lenoir County on Monday evening, ending with two Kinston men in custody on felony gun charges and a third suspect still on the run. Deputies say the men were firing pistols when they arrived, then fled in a vehicle before ditching their weapons in the woods along the way.
According to the Craven County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to the shots-fired call around 6:35 p.m. on August 10 near Jimmy Smith Road and N.C. Highway 55 in Dover. That intersection sits along a primary state corridor roughly 15 miles east of Kinston that connects Craven and Lenoir Counties, according to a property listing on Realtor.com describing the area. Deputies say two men were firing pistols when they arrived on scene, and the vehicle carrying the suspects then fled toward Lenoir County with multiple passengers aboard.
As the pursuit unfolded, deputies say multiple passengers bailed out of the vehicle and ran, discarding items into nearby woods as they went. One fleeing passenger reportedly climbed into a second vehicle, which law enforcement then pulled over in a separate traffic stop. That passenger was arrested without incident, the sheriff's office says, while the original vehicle and its driver were ultimately taken into custody in Lenoir County, also without incident.
Two Kinston Men Now Facing Felony Charges
The driver, identified as 24-year-old Davin Mikel Best of Kinston, faces a long list of charges: felony fleeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, resisting a public officer, speeding, reckless driving, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of an open container after consuming. Best lives on Greenleaf Road in Kinston, according to the sheriff's office.
Ray-Shawn Wilson, 33, also of Kinston, was charged with felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting a public officer. Wilson resides on Clay Street in Kinston. Both men are being held at the Craven County Sheriff's Office Confinement Facility, and both face allegations that, under the law, they are presumed innocent of unless and until proven guilty in court.
North Carolina law treats fleeing to elude arrest as a felony rather than a misdemeanor once two or more aggravating factors — such as speeding and reckless driving — are present, according to the Carolina Attorneys firm. Best's charges include both of those aggravating factors alongside the fleeing count. Separately, North Carolina's so-called “Run and You're Done” provision allows the state to seize and force the forfeiture of a vehicle used in a felony flee-and-elude offense upon conviction, per the NC Criminal Law firm.
K-9 Athos Tracks Down Discarded Handguns
The felony firearm charges against both men rest heavily on evidence recovered by a police dog. K-9 Athos, deployed for what the sheriff's office described as an article search, recovered two firearms that the suspects had discarded in the woods during the chase. Athos serves in the Craven County Sheriff's Office K-9 Bureau under handler Lieutenant Waters, according to a report from WCTI News 12.
Because Best and Wilson are both convicted felons, North Carolina law bars them from possessing firearms at all — a violation classified as a Class G felony that carries a maximum sentence of up to 47 months in state prison, according to the law firm Jetton & Meredith. The dossier of charges does not specify what prior convictions triggered that prohibition for either man.
Manhunt Continues for Suspect Known as “El”
Craven County authorities are still trying to identify a third passenger who fled the vehicle on foot during the chase into Lenoir County. That suspect is described only as a Black male wearing all-black clothing who goes by the nickname “El.” No further identifying details have been released, and the motive behind the initial shots fired on Jimmy Smith Road remains unknown.
The response required help from outside the county. The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office, led by Sheriff Jackie Rogers, assisted with the traffic stops and the arrests once the pursuit crossed into its jurisdiction. The Craven County Sheriff's Office itself has been led since 2018 by Sheriff Chip Hughes, a former North Carolina State Highway Patrol officer.
Monday's shots-fired call adds to Dover's history of gun-related incidents. In June 2022, a shooter fired rifle rounds into a home on Daugherty Road during a drug-related dispute, a case that led to multiple felony charges against both the shooter and the homeowner. Investigators have not said whether Monday's incident is connected to any prior activity in the area.
