PARKTON — As many as four law enforcement officers were pinned down by gunfire on Sunday during a standoff that ended with the death of the gunman, according to a statement by Robeson County Sheriff Kenneth Sealey.
The statement provides few details about what happened on Sunday at 96 Acadiana Drive, Parkton, where the seven-hour standoff ended when lawmen found the body of 33-year-old Kevin Anthony Battaglia inside. Battaglia is a veteran who apparently spent time in Afghanistan, according to people in the neighborhood who knew him, but details of his service were not available, including the branch of the military he served. One neighbor said he was in the “Special Forces.”
Sealey’s statement did not say whether Battaglia died from shots fired from law enforcement, or at his own hands.
Neighbors spoke of Battaglia on Monday, saying he was a friendly guy who often attended neighborhood cookouts. They said he had a girlfriend and two children, both girls. They were not at the home on Sunday.
On his Facebook page, however, he referred to himself as “GOD,” and in recent days posted selfies of himself wearing a black shirt saying “United We Stand” and camouflage pants. One photo depicted the American flag, the Bible and a weapon. Many of his postings were religious in nature.
The State Bureau of Investigation, as is routine in instances in which law enforcement officers fire their weapons, is leading the investigation.
According to Sealey, at 2:05 p.m. on Sunday deputies received a call from Acadiana Drive, off McIver Road, concerning a possible weapons violation. The Robesonian has been told from multiple sources that Battaglia has been seen in the public with a weapon. Deputies, whom the statement did not identify by name, were sent to do a “wellness check.” When they arrived, the homeowner — who was not identified by name — became “upset” and it “appeared that something was wrong,” according to the statement.
“He was armed, had a bullet-proof vest on, refused assistance and made threats to deputies,” the statement said.
A deputy called for a backup unit, and when patrol cars arrived, shots were fired and a standoff began during which four officers were pinned down for more than two hours.
The statement said that a highway patrolman was struck, but did not identify him. The Robesonian has learned he is Trooper Brian Strickland, who graduated from Patrol School in 2015, and that a bullet-proof vest prevented him from being injured. On Facebook, someone posted a photograph of Strickland’s vest and where it was struck, near the region of the heart.
The statement did not say how many law enforcement officers arrived on the scene, but multiple media reports have fixed the number at more than 50, including police from Parkton, Lumberton and Fayetteville, special response teams from Cumberland and Robeson County sheriff’s offices, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The statement said the standoff “went on for several hours,” but does not provide a time-frame. The statement did not mention it, but during that time a negotiator used a loudspeaker to try to persuade the person firing from inside the home to surrender peacefully.
The Robesonian has learned that the standoff began just after 3 p.m. and ended about 10:30 p.m., when the body was found. A person who lives near the scene told The Robesonian at one point he heard a volley of what he guessed was more than 100 shots.
According to the Fayetteville Observer, about 6:45 p.m., lawmen were heard on their radios saying they were entering the house with a robotic device. Soon after, automatic gunfire erupted for about 15 seconds.
Law enforcement officers entered the two-story home about 10:30 p.m., according to several sources, and that is when they found Battaglia’s body.
The neighborhood is a well-kept cul-de-sac about a half mile from town. Some of the two-story stick-built home have fall and Halloween decor. Battaglia’s two-story white home with blue trim was surrounded by yellow police tape. There was obvious evidence of gunshots having hit the home, and some windows were boarded up. A black Dodge Ram sat idly out front.
The grass appeared recently mowed, but some bushes were in need of trimming.
According to the statement, during the standoff “several homes were struck by gunfire from the person shooting from the Acadiana Drive home.” Many homes in the neighborhood were ordered to be evacuated.
Paula Matt lives two houses to the left of Battaglia with her ex-husband John. She said they had heard the girlfriend had moved out, taking the children, because of “issues.”
“The gunshots were so loud,” she said. “It’s like something from Rambo.”
Matt said that the cops picked up everyone in the neighborhood and carried them in a SWAT vehicle a few hundred yards away. They had to walk the half mile into town.
“They told us to leave everything,” she said. “Kids were still in there pajamas “
Residents said it was a quiet neighborhood where people leave their doors open to see what was happening outside through the screen door and everyone is welcome at the barbecue.
Paula Solomon for nine years has lived in a house right across from Battaglia’s.
“He was a nice man. He was very respectful,” she said.
He said he attended cookouts and was nice and talkative, but added, “Towards the end, he just unraveled a bit.”
She said that Battaglia would often tell her husband to pray for him.
“He was in the military. I think that had something to do with it.”
She said that she heard he was in Afghanistan.
“He seemed like an alright fellow,” John Matt said. “He was always taking care of his house, making it look nice.”
Matt said he heard Battaglia was in “Special Forces.”
“I never got the impression he was off,” he said. “There wasn’t any strange behavior.”
Then he added: “When you go away, it’s hard come back normal.”
