According to Mount Airy Police Department officials, a man from North Carolina has been taken into custody and is being charged with murder in relation to a fatal shooting that occurred in the community.

The man has been identified as Austin Hawks. The Mount Airy Police Department was notified of a shooting at the Mayberry Mart on East Pine Street at approximately 8:15 a.m. on December 6, 2023. 

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The Mount Airy Police Department implemented lockdown measures at Jones Intermediate, Mount Airy Middle School, and the Community Central Office in reaction to this information.

Who is Austin Hawks?

Austin Hawks is 26 years old. Officers from Mount Airy identified Hawks as the shooter, and they took him into custody there. He was then charged with murder, detained at the Surry County Detention Center without bond, and placed under house arrest.

The Mount Airy Police Department was notified of a shooting at the Mayberry Mart on East Pine Street at approximately 8:15 a.m. on December 6, 2023. Lockdown protocols were then implemented by the Mount Airy Police Department at Jones Intermediate, Mount Airy Middle School, and the Community Central Office. Not long after, Tharrington Primary School was put on hold and Mount Airy High School went into lockdown as well.

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Patrol police arrived at the scene and found the 39-year-old victim, Agustin Alberto Villalon Luna, who had been shot in the head and had regrettably passed away. Responding cops doing a perimeter check were given a suspicious description by witnesses on the spot.

Throughout the incident, school administrators made sure that neither students nor staff were in danger, and they kept in regular contact with local law police. At 9:15 a.m., the lockdowns and hold were removed.

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Officials declared that faculty and staff will set aside time to interact with students and solve their queries and worries. They did, however, make it clear that no precise information regarding the occurrence in the neighborhood would be made public.