WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WNCN) — A North Carolina family awakened by the sound of barking and gunshots finds their dog shot and killed. Now they’re devastated and looking for answers.
The Privette family’s roots run deep in their community near Youngsville.
“We’re the sixth generation in this house,” noted Jacob Privette.
The house sits on a quiet rural road, where, despite the distance between homes, Kendall and Jacob Privette say there’s a closeness among neighbors.
“We all have dogs, and we all have kids around here, and we really try to create a village with our community,” Kendall explained.
Rooster, the bloodhound, was part of this village for the past three years, ever since he joined the Privette family.
“Everybody knew Rooster,” Jacob said. “People would see him coming by. He’d go with me to work. Everybody liked the old dog.”
“He loved hugs,” his wife added. “Even though he was 140 pounds, he still thought he was a baby.”
Rooster also let the Privettes know if anyone came to the yard. About 2 a.m. on Sunday, they woke to the sounds of Rooster and their other dogs barking.
“Looked out the window and I saw a car that had come to a stop right in front of the house, actually, really right in front of my son’s room,” Jacob recalled. “They waited for the dogs to come out to the front of the car and then they just started shooting.”
“We heard gunshots, about eight of them back to back really quickly,” Kendall added.
Jacob tried to follow the car, but he quickly lost sight of it. The family’s other two dogs raced to the porch and hid but there was no sign of Rooster.
They later found him dead with a gunshot wound in his side.
“He was family to us. We really love our animals,” Kendall said sadly.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating. The Privettes are asking anyone with information to reach out to the Sheriff’s office. They say finding the people responsible might give them a little bit of peace.
“The five-year-old. He really saw the whole thing. He heard it,” Jacob said. “He kept asking, like, ‘Why would somebody try to come here and hurt us and our animals?’”
After this, the community that they love doesn’t feel as safe anymore.
“My son’s bed is right there at the window and they’re shooting right here,” Kendall said, pointing at their home. “They didn’t care who was in the house. They didn’t care who was in the yard.”
“What else could they do?” she wonders. “If you can do something like that, so heartless for no reason, then I feel like the whole community should be aware and should be watching because it can happen to anyone.”
They just never imagined it would happen to Rooster.