A 23-year-old North Carolina man remains in intensive care after being shot multiple times on August 22 when he knocked on his neighbor’s front door to share a religious prayer.
The neighbor, identified by authorities as 72-year-old William Griffin, who is white, has not been charged after claiming he shot 23-year-old Jadyn McNeill, who is Black, because he thought he was trying to break into his home in Rockingham.
The shooting remains under investigation and will be reviewed by the district attorney, according to multiple news reports, citing the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
There’s no indication that the shooter and victim had any previous encounters with each other.
McNeill, who has lived directly across the street from the man for eight years, knocked on Griffin’s door in to share a spiritual blessing when he was shot five times through the man’s front door.
McNeill said he didn’t buy that Griffin didn’t know his son because they had been neighbors for nearly a decade.
“[Jadyn] would often read his Bible here in the driveway,” he explained. “He would just walk up and down the driveway.”
Sheriff’s officials are working with the State Bureau of Investigation to determine whether charges will be filed.
Since the shooting, attorneys for the McNeil family have put pressure on the sheriff’s office to file charges in the case.
In interviews, the lawyers, Harry Daniels and Carnell Johnson, drew parallels between this case and high-profile incidents in Missouri and Florida, where young men were also shot through a door under similar circumstances.
“The simple fact is that the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office arrived at a scene where a white man, who was still armed, had gunned down a young Black man through his door and did nothing,” Daniels stated in a press release, according to the Richmond Observer. “Now they want us to believe that the victim, who has no criminal history, all of a sudden decided to break into his neighbor’s house, in broad daylight, while the neighbor was home without wearing any shoes.”
The lawyers also claim the father stated that the deputy did not order Griffin to put down his weapons, nor did he draw his own firearm or place Griffin in custody.
“Imagine arriving at a crime scene where one man is waving a gun and another is bleeding out in the front yard,” Johnson stated. “I’ll guarantee you that if the races were reversed, Griffin would be in jail right now.”
Daniels supported this position.
“That’s not just absurd. It’s insulting,” Daniels said. “Jadyn McNeill is fighting for his life in intensive care while his shooter remains free. He deserves better than this.”
Family members were left grappling with why Griffin felt the need to grab his gun after a simple knock at the door, a decision that left McNeill in critical condition.
“He was shot at seven times but he was only hit five,” said Charles McNeill, the victim’s father. “This is the guy across the street from me.”
The elder McNeil said his son was shot in broad daylight after he knocked on the man’s door to share a morning prayer.
That’s when a barrage of bullets pierced through their front door, hitting Jadyn McNeill in the chest, stomach, arm, and hand.
“He is conscious. He is a resilient young man,” McNeill said, adding, “It was on his mind to try to spread the good news.”
McNeill told news outlets that he saw his son put his hands up and that’s when he tried to intervene. “My son was still standing, whenever I got across the street to him, with his hands up to this guy.”
However, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has since disputed his account, stating on Facebook that the homeowner believed Jadyn, who has no criminal record, was attempting to break in—even after the initial shots were fired.
“Our information indicates that he knocks on the door,” said attorney Johnson. “According to the family, there was no kicking or trying to break down the door.”
The day after the shooting, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office released a statement indicating that a resident on McDonald Church Road had called authorities to report an attempted break-in.
Before deputies arrived, the caller reportedly informed the 911 Center that the homeowner had already fired several shots to deter the person at the door and continued shooting when the individual failed to leave.
The first deputy on scene found McNeill wounded and quickly provided first aid.
According to the police report, McNeill’s father arrived around the same time as the deputy and saw his son standing in the front yard, bleeding, while Griffin was reportedly waving two handguns.
Jadyn McNeil was last reported in stable condition but he remains in the ICU.
