A teacher from Union County North Carolina was killed in a shootout involving a drug cartel.
The shootout took place at a mobile home park on April 8th at 1 a.m. in the morning. Deputies went in the trailer and found two people shot.
One man was shot, Alonso Beltran Lara (cartel member), and taken to a hospital where he later died from his injuries and Barney Dale Harris (the teacher) was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers found Harris with a face cover, gloves and a bulletproof vest on, Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said.
Authorities believe that Lara was a drug runner for the cartel and that the trailer was one of the stash houses. Investigators say Harris and a group of people went to steal drugs and money and at some point a shootout ensued.
Police located a kilo of cocaine, five guns and $7000 in cash money during the course of the investigation.
According to Yahoo News, Harris was a beloved teacher that taught Spanish and was also head coach of the boys basketball team and track team at Union Academy Charter School.
Members of the cartel may seek revenge for Lara’s death, according to Johnson.
“To this day as sheriff, I’ll tell you right now, I’m still worried about some retaliation, because the Mexican cartels, they don’t forget, they’re gonna pay back somebody, somewhere,” he said. “And that concerns me greatly as sheriff of this county.”
Source: WBTV
