Four shots from an off-duty Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office deputy’s gun caused extensive injuries leading to the death of William C. “Billy” Gibbs III.
The official autopsy report released by the N.C. Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Chapel Hill details how Gibbs, 26, suffered four gunshot wounds to the left side of his body outside of the Waffle House on East New Bern Road on Nov. 25.
Two bullets entered Gibbs’ chest, one 3 inches lower than the other. Another bullet struck Gibbs’ abdomen and the fourth hit his left upper thigh.
An LCSO statement released subsequent to the incident said deputies Joseph Heck and William Shambeau were working security while off-duty at the restaurant, when around 3 a.m., they conducted a security check of the parking lot.
The statement says Gibbs fired a gun at another person, and when he didn’t obey commands to put down his weapon, Heck shot him. Gibbs died shortly thereafter at Lenoir Memorial Hospital.
The deputies initially went on paid administrative leave as the State Bureau of Investigation began looking into the case. They’ve since gone back to work.
“They are not on leave, they are just on administrative duty now,” LCSO Chief Deputy Chris Hill said.
The autopsy was conducted at the ECU Brody School of Medicine on Nov. 26 and signed off by Dr. Jonathan Privette on Dec. 10. Though the wounds are listed in order from bottom to top, it’s unknown in which order they were created.
The bullet entering the highest on Gibbs’ body fractured a posterior rib, then continued from left to right as it lacerated his diaphragm, spleen and left kidney before fracturing another rib and one of his vertebrae, where it stopped. The wound resulted in dangerous internal bleeding between Gibbs’ lungs and chest cavity, as well as between the abdominal lining and abdominal organs.
The second chest gunshot wound, slightly lower than the first, showed the bullet passed between two ribs before it lacerated Gibbs’ left kidney, perforated his colon and fractured a vertebra. It also caused significant internal bleeding.
A third bullet caused three minor wounds before entering Gibbs’ left abdomen, fracturing his pelvis, perforating his colon, bladder and the right illiac artery, lodging in his right thigh.
The fourth bullet caused the least amount of serious, immediate damage. It went through his upper left thigh, through his scrotum and exited through his right thigh. The report lists only injury to skin and soft tissue.
According to the report, Gibbs had a black lighter, a North Carolina driver’s license and $45 in cash when his body arrived for examination. It also shows he had a 0.10 blood alcohol level. A Facebook post by one of Gibbs’ friends from that evening said he’d been at Club Climax before going to the Waffle House.
SBI Agent Jennifer Matherly took into evidence a blood card, hair samples, Gibbs’ clothing, shoes, cash, the lighter and the four bullets. It’s unknown the specific state of the investigation at this time.
“I just checked and that investigation is still ongoing,” said Jennifer Canada, N.C. Department of Justice assistant public information officer, Wednesday. No other information on the case was available.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at WolfeReports.