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Three people were killed and a community terrorized in Greenville, NC, when, on Jan. 10, a local real estate broker went on a shooting spree. The suspect, 55-year-old David Lever is now in custody, but a motive for Lever’s shocking crimes has not yet been determined.
According to Greenville police, Lever’s attacks began around 1:45 pm Monday when he fired shots from his van on N.C. Highway 43, near Greenville. About 30 minutes after shots were fired on Highway 43, Greenville resident, T.D. Gribble, 51, who was armed, called 911, reporting his elderly parents were dead, that he had confronted a suspect inside their home, and had him detained. At some point that day, Greenville police allege Lever also fired shots into a neighbor’s house but no one was injured.
According to Gribble, Lever confessed he killed Gribble’s parents — Anthony Gribble, 80, and Paula Gribble, 76 — before the police arrived. Lever was arrested at the scene, and later that day, Enrique Reyes, 64, a retired university professor, was found shot and killed on the driveway of his home, near where Lever lived. Authorities believe Lever killed him. According to their son, Lever had been the elder Gribble’s real estate broker about a decade earlier, but otherwise, Lever had no known connection to the victims, Greenville News WITN reported.
A cache of weapons and a history of domestic violence
After Lever’s arrest, Greenville police said they discovered a massive cache of firearms and ammunition at Lever’s home with evidence that a shot had been fired into the floor. Police also said that in the past, they responded to reports of domestic violence between Lever and his girlfriend, Latifah Lipford, but Lipford could not be located or contacted after the attack. Lever also reportedly told Gribble while Gribble had him detained that Lever had mental health and substance use issues, North Carolina news WCTI 12 reported.
“Once [Gribble] entered the yard he saw David Lever walking from the front door out into the yard,” Lever’s search warrant read. “Mr. Gribble stated that David Lever then told him he killed his parents. The son told investigators that Lever was an acquaintance of his parents and that he was their real estate agent when they bought their home. Mr. Gribble also stated that Mr. Lever was not of sound mind and has substance abuse issues,” the warrant said.
Meanwhile, additional firearms and ammunition were found in Levers’ van. For this reason, “There would have been additional victims” if T.D. Gribble. had not intervened when he did, Pitt County Sheriff Paula Dance said. Police now believe Lever knocked on the door of another person’s house but when they answered, he was already backing out of the driveway. Those people said they didn’t recognize him.
Lever shouted obscenities at his first court appearance
Referring to the shocking crime spree in Greenville, a small town about 80 miles southeast of Raleigh, Lever’s neighbor, Tom Powell told North Carolina’s WRAL, “We’ve lived out here for quite a while, and it’s been a quiet neighborhood.” Powell added, “We very rarely have any kind of problems, especially like this, and to have this kind of thing happen so suddenly with people, between people that we at least know something about. It’s tragic, it’s sad.”
Lever currently faces three murder charges, with more charges pending. At his initial court appearance, Lever shouted obscenities at the judge before he was escorted back to his cell. He’s been held without bond and assigned a public defender. WITN says Lever’s expected back in court on Jan. 19 and he has not yet entered a plea.