The deadliest mass shooting in North Carolina history, in which eight nursing home residents and staff were killed by a gunman in 2009.
Key Facts
- Date
- March 29, 2009
- Killed
- 8 people
- Wounded
- 1 (plus responding officer) people
- Shooter
- Robert Kenneth Stewart, age 45
- Sentence
- 179 years, 4 months, and 20 days
- Conviction
- 8 counts of second degree murder (2011)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Robert Kenneth Stewart, 45, sought to kill his estranged wife, a nurse employed at Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation in Carthage, North Carolina. His motive was domestic in nature, targeting the facility where she worked after the breakdown of their marriage.
On March 29, 2009, Stewart entered the 120-bed nursing home and opened fire, killing eight people including one nurse and wounding another. A responding police officer shot and apprehended Stewart at the scene, sustaining a gunshot wound himself. Stewart's estranged wife survived by hiding.
Stewart was tried in 2011 and convicted of eight counts of second degree murder, receiving a sentence of 179 years, 4 months, and 20 days. The attack remains the deadliest mass shooting in North Carolina's history, drawing attention to security vulnerabilities in healthcare facilities.