Friend identifies man shot, killed at Shelby motel

SHELBY, NC (WBTV) - A man police say was shot and killed at a motel in Shelby Monday morning has been identified by a friend.

The shooting happened around 4:23 a.m. at the Super 8 Motel on E. Dixon Boulevard. When officers arrived, they found a man who had been shot. He was later pronounced dead by paramedics.

Shannon Butler, a person claiming to be a friend of the victim, identified the man as 35-year-old Travis Wallace from Gaffney, SC. Police later confirmed Wallace's identity.

Butler visited the crime scene Monday with one of Wallace's family members and spoke fondly of the victim.

The motel is off of Highway 74, about half a mile past the mall and beside a Verizon Wireless store, officials say.

"He'd give you the shirt off his back and feed you if you were hungry," Butler said.

Butler referenced the person responsible for taking Wallace's life in the interview.

"They gonna get what they deserve. We ain't gonna let it go no matter what," Butler explained.

Wallace posted a picture of himself with a gun on his Facebook page Sunday night just hours before he was killed. Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford confirmed that investigators are 'looking at' the victim's Facebook page.

Guests staying at the motel were shocked to learn about what had happened overnight. Susie Lowndes, one of the guests, said she found herself shaking after learning about what had happened.

"It's just making me feel so sick you know. It means that there's some person around here that's done dreadful things and it's just making me feel awful," Lowndes explained.

She said that she and her family had planned to stay in the motel Monday night too, but that plan changed when the family heard about the homicide.

Shelby Police Department's CSI team assisted in the investigation. No word on a possible motive.

Ledford said officers are still trying to piece together what happened at the motel and figure out who all was involved in the incident. No suspects have been named in the case.