Police probe shootings

New Bern police late Friday continued to investigate a shooting incident that left two dead, city officials said.

Police were called around 2:30 p.m. to a small-frame house on Julia Clay Street near the railroad tracks where a young man and a young woman were found dead.

Police identified Brittney Nicole Jones, of the home, and 25-year-old Johnnie Exum Neely, of the 1000 block of Simmons Street, as the deceased.

Jones has a 3-year-old daughter, her aunt said. It was not immediately clear if the child was home. 

Family members from Vanceboro arrived late Friday afternoon and looked on as New Bern police worked the area inside the house where the shots were fired.

The small sandy-colored house had yellow crime tape surrounding it, and police would not allow family members to cross the tape because they were continuing to investigate the circumstances of the shooting.

A next-door neighbor in the semi-industrial area came out on her porch to smoke a cigarette. She had nothing to say.

The address, 611 Julia Clay St., is a block from the Religious Community Services facility and down a small side street.

Family members expressed concern about the whereabouts of the female victim’s toddler. “I hope she wasn’t in the house,” an aunt said.

New Bern city spokeswoman Colleen Roberts stressed that the shooting was not a double homicide and the victims were gunshot victims.

No one has been taken into custody.

Francine Sawyer can be reached at 252-635-5671 or at fsawyer@freedomenc.com or follow her on Twitter @francinersawyer.