North Carolina college shooting being investigated as a possible hate crime

College official has said that the slain man was gay

(AP)

The shooting on a North Carolina college campus that left one man dead is now being investigated as a possible hate crime, according to police.

Ron Lane, the 44-year-old director of the print shop at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, North Carolina, allegedly was killed on the campus on Monday by former student-employee Kenneth Stancil III, police said.

Though police have not said why they are investigating the shooting as a hate crime, Mr Lane’s supervisor has said that he was gay, providing a good indication, the Associated Press reported. Mr Lane fired Mr Stancil in March because he was not showing up to work.

Mr Stancil allegedly came into the college’s print shop and shot Mr Lane with a shotgun before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle, police say. The shooting prompted a lockdown and manhunt on the campus.

The alleged shooter was found and arrested almost a day later, sleeping on the beach in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The mugshot taken in Florida shows a tattoo on his face of the number “88”, which may be a symbol of neo-Nazis, according to Brian Levin, director of the Centre of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

The number “88” to neo-Nazis equates to “HH” or “Heil Hitler”, Mr Levin said, according to the AP. It has not been confirmed that Mr Stancil is a neo-Nazi but police are investigating. The neo-Nazis are a group with a long history of violence against gays.

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