A 40-year-old Shelby man is dead after a hit-and-run driver struck him late Thursday night and fled, leaving police with no suspect and a neighborhood full of unanswered questions. Bo Jean Anderson, who lived in the area where he was hit, died of his injuries shortly after officers arrived at the scene near Edwards Street and Tyler Drive.
Police got a call from a passerby around 9:45 p.m. reporting that a pedestrian might have been struck by a car at Edwards Street and Tyler Drive, just off South Lafayette Street, according to the Shelby Star. When officers arrived, they found a man who appeared to have been struck by a car, and he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Driver Still Unidentified as Investigators Press for Leads
Shelby Police Lt. Brandon Spangler asked residents in the area to check their doorbell cameras for any footage that might have captured the moments before or after the crash. A department Facebook post specifically requested that residents of Brittain Village and the surrounding neighborhoods review security footage from 9 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 29, noting that even a small detail or unusual observation could help the investigation.
No suspect description, vehicle details or arrest has been announced in connection with Anderson's death, and the driver remained at large as of the latest update from police. Anyone with footage or information is asked to contact Detective A. Surratt at 704-418-6422 or the Shelby Police Department's non-emergency line at 704-484-6845. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Cleveland County Crime Stoppers at 704-481-TIPS or via the P3 Tips mobile app.
A Pattern Playing Out Across the Carolinas
Hit-and-run deaths involving pedestrians are not unique to Shelby this fall. In Simpsonville, South Carolina, police responded to a fatal hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian on a Thursday evening as well, according to WYFF4. That collision happened around 5:35 p.m. in the parking lot of a Belk department store on Fairview Road, and the victim, 56-year-old Dawn Cline of Simpsonville, died at 6:27 p.m. after being taken to a hospital. Simpsonville investigators asked anyone with information to call a dedicated line or email the lieutenant overseeing that case.
Statewide numbers suggest pedestrian fatalities have been a growing concern in North Carolina. A 2024 traffic-crash report noted that pedestrian deaths surged by 12 percent, with speeding contributing to more than a fifth of all crash fatalities, per the state's crash facts documentation. The figures offer only a broad backdrop and don't speak to what happened on Edwards Street, but they underscore why Shelby investigators are moving quickly to track down whoever was behind the wheel.
For now, the case remains open, and police are relying on the community to fill in the gaps. Residents near Brittain Village are being asked to look back through their camera footage from that Thursday night, in hopes that something — a passing headlight, a sound, a shape in the dark — can help identify the driver who left Bo Jean Anderson behind.
