Law enforcement scrambles to Pilot Mountain house to probe second death in 3 weeks

For the second time in three weeks, a residence at 800 W. Main Street, across the road from East Surry High School, has been the scene of a fatality, although officials are not saying if the latest victim was shot or died from some other means.

Wednesday, Pilot Mountain law enforcement officials said 35-year-old Spencer Patrick McCarty, of that address, was found inside a car parked in the home's driveway. Pilot Mountain police had been called to the scene to investigate an "unattended death" the police department posted on social media.

The home was the site of a fatal shooting about three weeks ago. On July 30, around 4 p.m., members of the Pilot Mountain Police Department and Surry County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic disturbance call to the home, across the street from East Surry High School.

According to Pilot Mountain Police Chief Adrian Tillotson when first responders arrived on scene, they “located a male subject with a single gunshot wound in the chest, and he was pronounced dead at the scene by Surry County EMS.”

William Curry Sprinkle Jr., a 36-year-old from Pinnacle was identified as the victim. No suspect was publicly named in the fatal shooting, but Pilot Mountain Police said last month that the shooter had been identified by law enforcement. Authorities have not released the identity of the suspect, nor said if he or she is in custody or has been charged in the death, or if the shooter remains a threat to the community.

Wednesday, law enforcement was back at the home en force, with town police, Surry County Sheriff's Office, and the State Bureau of Investigation on site, along with Surry County EMS.

A member of the SBI crew said they had arrived on site around noon but was tight lipped otherwise as to the reason for their visit.

Surry County Emergency Services Director Eric Southern was on site and confirmed that the presence was related to the fatal shooting last month but said as it was an active investigation, and being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation, that he could offer no insight.

Major Scott Hudson of the Surry County Sheriff’s Office referred questions to the Pilot Mountain Police Department.

The town police department, which often posts its messages online rather than speaking with or working with local media, said in its post "there is no evidence that suggests there is a connection" to the July 30 shooting death at the address. "However, the investigation is ongoing."

The police department's statement said there is "no apparent signs of foul play," but did not indicate how Wednesday's subject died or if McCarty was in any way involved with the July 30 incident.