POLICE SHOOT PATRICK BURRIS, SUSPECT IN STRING OF FIVE MURDERS

The man police say was responsible for killing five Gaffney residents over a six day period was slain by police in North Carolina Monday.

Police in Gastonia, N.C. were investigating a burglary at a home 30 miles away from where the murders took place, when an intoxicated man — identified as Patrick Burris (photo) — pulled a gun.

Burris, a felon with a long record who had served seven years in prison and was paroled in April, was shot dead.

State Law Enforcement Investigators used ballistics tests on a gun and bullets found with Burris to confirm he was the suspect in the killing spree.

“We have him. He’s our serial killer,” SLED Deputy Director Neil Dolan told the Associated Press Monday night.

Burris was wanted after police said he killed a peach farmer on June 27, an 83-year-old woman and her daughter four days later, and the next day a father and his 15-year-old daughter.

And it was the vigilance of a Gastonia couple that prevented his spree from continuing.

Mike and Terri Valentine said they were on edge because they knew serial killer was just a short drive away. And when they saw an unfamiliar man matching the killer’s description enter a neighboring home, they called police.

The Valentines said officers arrived, went inside, and then someone yelled “put it down.”

Then “bam, bam, bam, bam. Next thing I know, all of Gaston County was here,” Terri Valentine said.

SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd and Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said Burris may be dead, but the investigation is just beginning. For now, though, they hope today’s events will help calm the fears of folks in Gaffney.