‘A sweet woman’: 68-year-old shot, killed while sitting on porch in Gastonia

GASTONIA, N.C. — The Gastonia Police Department responded to a shooting at a townhome complex west of Robinwood Road on Hillgate Avenue Monday evening.

Channel 9’s Ken Lemon was at the scene, which is near a playground and townhomes.

The victim, who has been identified as 68-year-old Pamela Shanks, was shot and killed.

Loved ones say she was not the intended target.

Not only did the shooting occur in broad daylight in the middle of a townhome complex, but in the view of several surveillance cameras.

Loved ones describe Gastonia’s latest victim of gun violence as a woman who provided for others simply out of the goodness of heart, despite experiencing her own unimaginable loss.

“A sweet woman. She just lost her child to gun violence. Her only child,” a loved one said.

Police say Shanks was fatally shot Monday night at her home on Laurel Lane.

Still processing the news at they arrived at the scene, Channel 9’s Jonathan Lowe spoked to a grieving loved one who asked not to have her face shown.

“She loved everyone, to the point where two children, that she raises, are not her children. Those are her foster children,” said the loved one.

GPD isn’t saying what led to Shanks getting shot.

But the family member says there was an argument between one of the foster kids and some other teens.

“The little boy, one of her sons went into the house,” she said. “Some guys come from over here at the park and they started shooting. She was outside smoking a cigarette.”

Shanks was struck while sitting on her porch. Our camera captured at least nine shell casing markers.

Investigators were collecting those shell casings near a playground, but the victim was struck on the porch of a home that is about 70 yards away, in the middle of one of several surveillance cameras.

It’s not clear if they captured the shooting. But the loved one says Shanks trusted this neighborhood and those around her.

“It’s always something,” she said. “With teenage boys, kids these days, so if it was something, she just didn’t know it was going to get to that extent, or she would not have been on that porch.”

This is yet another example, she says, of senseless violence taking the life of an innocent, unsuspecting person.

“I’m not angry, I’m more disappointed because of the situation and how it happened, and the people involved,” the loved one said.

Right now, Gastonia police say they don’t have any suspects in custody, nor have they identified anyone they’re looking for.

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