An elderly couple have been found dead after a father and son broke into their house in an apparent random home invasion, set the place on fire and abducted them.
Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife Dora, 62, were killed after being taken from their home in Oak Hill, North Carolina, at 7am on New Year's Day by two men who also stole their SUV.
Police in Lewisburg, West Virginia found the couple's bodies around 4pm following a shootout with the suspects when officers pulled over the stolen white Chevrolet SUV being driven by 21-year-old Eric Alexander Campbell.
Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife Dora, 62, were killed after being taken from their home in Oak Hill, North Carolina, at 7am on New Year's Day
Jerome Faulkner, 73, and his wife Dora, 62, were taken from their home in Oak Hill, North Carolina by two men who then bued the property to the ground
Eric Alexander Campbell, 21, (left) was in custody following a shootout with police in West Virginia. He and his father, Edward Campbell, (right) had allegedly abducted and killed an elderly couple following a home invasion in North Carolina
As police were talking to the suspect, his father, 54-year-old Edward Campbell, allegedly pulled alongside in a red SUV and opened fire on the officers, ABC11 reported.
The father fled in his truck but was captured 90 minutes later in the woods. A search of his truck revealed two dead bodies under a mattress on the flatbed, according to WRAL.
A spokesman from the Greenbrier County Sheriff's Department told Daily Mail Online on Friday that two officers were shot by the suspects and had been hospitalized but were going to be fine.
He said that the two quick-thinking cops had relatively new information as to the license plate of the stolen SUV when they apprehended the vehicle.
Sheriff Brindell Wilkins, of Granville County, North Carolina, said he believed the couple were killed at their home and their bodies loaded into the truck before the suspects fled for more than 200 miles into West Virginia.
The sheriff said that he believed that the motive was robbery and that the couple were randomly targeted, according to WRAL.
Mr and Mrs Faulkner's pastor told Daily Mail Online today that the couple were 'quiet, solid people' who were faithful in their attendance to the church and well-loved.
Johnny Richard, pastor of the Mountain's Creek Baptist Church in Oxford, said that the Faulkners 'seemed to have no enemies and were good friends to everyone'.
Mr Richard, who knew the couple for ten years, said that they were very good friends to him personally.
Mr Faulkner was a retired fire chief with the Cowall Volunteer Fire Department and one of his two sons, Jerome Jr, had also joined the fire service in Raleigh.
He and the couple's other son, Ricky, were at the scene helping investigators.
The pastor said that he was first alerted to the fire at the elderly couple's home on Thursday moing and went down there.
Amid the busy scene, he could only stand and watch as their home bued to the ground.
Mr Richard said that he only found out the full extent of the tragedy when reports emerged on Thursday night.
He said that the church congregation planned to come together on Friday night to share their feelings and pray.
'We have seen death before,' he said. 'But this is something so brutal and vicious. We are going to get through this by coming together.'
According to reports, the sheriff said that first responders initially though that it was just a house fire and that the couple had left for a motel after a power cut but quickly realized that
MailOnline was awaiting a response from the Granville County sheriff's department.
Lt. Michael Baylous, of the West Virginia State Police, said the driver of the white SUV fled the scene and hid but later tued himself in without incident.
He drove behind a guardrail on the interstate and hid but then eventually came out and handed himself in to police, according to WV Gazette.
Two male officers were injured in the shootout. One was grazed by the bullet and the other had impact injuries to his rib cage after a bullet struck his protective vest.
Edward Campbell was shot in the leg during the exchange of gunfire and was being treated at Charleston Area Medical Center. He would be arrested on release, police said.
Eric Campbell was being held without bail.
Investigators were today trying to discover if there is a connection between the couple and the father and son.
The son has spoken to investigators but the father has not.
Officials from North Carolina and West Virginia were working with authorities in Texas, where it is believed that the suspects are from.
The two men are facing charges of malicious assault and attempted murder of a police officer in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. More charges were expected.
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