Murder in Earl

It's amazing how in the industry of covering news plans can go out the window in a heartbeat.

I promised a package on the growing gang presence in Shelby for later this week. Well, I spoke too soon and I've learned from my mistake.

Yesterday, which I had set aside to work on projects such as the gang piece, I was busy standing along Deep Green Drive in Earl for four hours as detectives and K-9 officers from the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office investigated a murder.

The flashing lights of emergency vehicles. Police tape blocking off entire yards. Neighbors and family crying and screaming as my stomach turns.

The glamorous job of a reporter.

The suspect is still on the loose and we'll have more in Friday's paper. Here's the coverage we've given to the story thus far:

Live on-scene reporting with an audio report from myself and video interviews with a neighbor and Capt. Alan Norman

Today's front page story

Today I spoke with Sgt. Mark Self, who is the K-9 trainer for the sheriff's office, about the lengthy K-9 search for the missing suspect Wednesday. He gave me a lot of great information that will be in Friday's paper but I thought this part was especially interesting when it comes to the dogs' routine.

"The dog will usually work very hard for about 45 minutes to an hour" then go on a 15 to 20 minute break before returning to the search, Self said. "They more or less have to grit it out."

When that dog goes on a break, another fresh dog is brought in to replace him.

We also learned today what kind of weapon was used in the shooting - a SKS assault rifle similar to this:

Scary, huh?