On the evening of August 31, 2024, at about 9:30 p.m., 60-year-old William Thomas Tommy Johnson was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Dollar General on US-17 North in Merry Hill, North Carolina. Deputies from the Bertie County Sheriff's Office and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol found Johnson near a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds; Emergency Medical Services pronounced him dead at the scene.

Witnesses described the suspect as a Black male wearing a blue hoodie and black pants who fled on foot and then entered a nearby vehicle. K-9 teams and drones were deployed but the suspect was not immediately taken into custody; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation assisted the local probe. Johnson, born June 30, 1964, lived in Plymouth and was a minister; a Homegoing Celebration was held on September 15, 2024, at Spring Green Church of Christ Disciples of Christ, followed by burial at the Johnson Family Cemetery.

The motive for the shooting remains unclear. Does anyone have information about Johnson’s movements that night or about the person described by witnesses?