Deputy William Ronald Mast Jr., 23, was killed on July 26, 2012, in Deep Gap, North Carolina, while responding to a 911 call at a trailer home on Hardin Road. He arrived at about 1:00 am, began walking toward the house, and was shot in the face. Investigators describe the attack as an intentional ambush. Another deputy with Mast returned fire and killed the shooter at the scene, so there were no further arrests or suspects.

Mast had served three years with the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and is survived by his expectant wife, his parents, and a sibling. In the years since his death his name was added to the Fallen Officer’s Memorial, the bridge over the New River on US 421 near Boone was named in his honor, and an annual memorial foot race and motorcycle ride were established.

Did anyone in the area at the time witness activity near the Hardin Road trailer that night or notice anything out of the ordinary around 1:00 am?