Man kills wife, then self in Burke County - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

Man kills wife, then self in Burke County

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BURKE COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - Burke County sheriff's deputies are investigating after a man called them early Sunday morning and said he had shot his wife.

Deputies tell WBTV that the shooting happened in a mobile on Hallyburton Road between Morganton and Lenoir. Investigators say Jackie Clemmens walked to a gas station a short distance away and called 9-1-1 on a pay phone. He claimed his wife, Irene, was killed during an accidental shooting.

When deputies arrived, they couldn't find Clemmens, and began looking for him. They spotted him about two hours later on the road below his house.

Deputies say he had a gun in his hand. They asked him to drop his weapon, and instead Clemmens killed himself.

The couple had two teenaged children.

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