Man, step-son killed in exchange of gunfire near Tabor City

By DEUCE NIVEN

    A man and his step-son died following an exchange of gunfire in their Green Acres Community home early Thursday, Capt. David Nobles of the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office said.
    James Bernard Soles, 40, and Gregory Javon McKinnies, 16, were both shot inside their home on Pine Circle Drive at about 12:20 a.m., Nobles said.
    Soles was alive and spoke to deputies and detectives before being taken by ambulance to McLeod Loris hospital, Nobles said, and died in the Emergency Department there.
    McKinnies was taken by car to the same hospital, and was pronounced dead on arrival, Nobles said.
    Investigators have been told differing stories on the nature of the argument that led McKinnies to pull a handgun and shoot Soles once in the chest, Nobles said.
    Soles picked up an assault rifle and returned fire, Nobles said, hitting McKinnies “multiple times” in the chest.
    McKinnies mother, Necolyia Bell, 38, and two brothers, ages 19 and 20, were home but not involved in the shootings, and were uninjured, Nobles said.
    Soles and Bell were charged in March with possession with intent to sell cocaine and marijuana from their home, Nobles said. McKinnies had not criminal record.
    Autopsies for both Soles and McKienies were to be conducted in Raleigh later today, Nobles said.
    Look for more on this story in the Oct. 30 Tabor-Loris Tribune print edition.