Eighteen-year-old Dawson Timothy Whisenant was shot and killed on the evening of May 19, 2026, at a home on Mount Olive Church Road in Morganton, North Carolina. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest; his father, 47-year-old Timothy Floyd Whisenant, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and was treated by first responders. The Burke County Sheriff’s Office opened an active investigation and initially released only the identities and basic injury information.

A local news report later relayed an eyewitness account claiming the firearm discharged unintentionally after Dawson’s brother placed it inside a box, but that account was not confirmed by the Sheriff’s Office and no arrests were announced in the immediate aftermath. The case remains under investigation and key questions about how the shooting occurred have not been resolved.

If anyone has information about the shooting at the Mount Olive Church Road residence on May 19, 2026, please share what you know with the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.