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Police release sketch in Sun-drop shooting
Reward for information raised to $75,000
Concord Police Department
A Concord Polic sketch shows a "person of interest" in the Sun-drop shooting case
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Published: September 8, 2008
CONCORD - Police released a composite sketch of a man they believe could be involved in the Sun-drop Bottling Co. double shooting on June 13.
A witness gave police the description of a man seen trying to gain entrance into the 360 Old Salisbury-Concord Road building an hour before Donna Barnhardt, a 59-year-old, longtime employee of the company, and Darrell Noles, 44, who was applying for a job, were killed. Police stopped short of calling the man a suspect in the killings, only referring to him as a "person of interest."
"This person could be related to the shootings," Concord Police Deputy Chief Guy Smith said, "but we won't know that until we are able to speak with him."
A man described as a black male, in his 20s with shoulder-length dreadlocks was seen leaving the building shortly after the shooting and walking along Cabarrus Avenue, police have said.
Police released the sketch Monday morning, passing it out to motorists driving past the Sun-drop Bottling building, and, by 4:30 p.m., Smith said several people had called about possible matches.
Seth Barnhardt, Donna Barnhardt's son, and several other family members also handed out fliers to passing motorists.
"I don't know if this guy did this," Barnhardt said, speaking about the sketch, "but he may know who did and any movement in the right direction is a good thing."
Police have had the sketch completed for "some time," Smith said, but were waiting to verify crucial details before releasing it to the public.
Police also announced Monday that the reward for the capture and conviction of the shooter had been upped to $75,000 from $50,000. Smith said police also intend to send information to the television show America's Most Wanted, which showcases unsolved crimes and not-captured suspects, for help.
Police believe the shooting began as a robbery, but not much more has been released. Smith declined to comment on whether investigators believe the robbery and shooting were random or if the shooter was familiar with the company and its employees. Police have never mentioned if anything was stolen from the building.
Barnhardt was an employee of the company for 19 years and was planning to leave early the day of the shooting for a family trip to Myrtle Beach. Noles was an out-of-work fiber optics technician looking for a job. He had been laid-off from CT Communications after Windstream purchased it in 2007.
Tressy Noles, Darrell Noles' wife, was arrested in August after being accused of embezzling more than $60,000 from Spectrum Sales in Concord. She had worked at the security firm for 13 years. Police do not believe the embezzlement case is connected to the shooting, authorities have said.
Anyone with any information in the Sun-drop Bottling Co. shooting is asked to contact Concord Police at 704-920-5000.
• Contact reporter Josh Lanier: 704-789-9144
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