Welcome to morganton.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

Morganton.com - Morganton - The News Herald

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

Lawing transported to Shepherd Center

Heather Sanders

The News Herald

Published: January 1, 2008

Morganton, NC - Martin Lawing, who has been in critical condition since he was shot in the neck in a standoff Dec. 11, was flown to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta Monday.

Sheriff John McDevitt said Lawing's wife, Leslie, found out about the non-profit hospital, which specializes in spinal cord injuries, and asked her husband be moved there.

McDevitt said Lawing's pneumonia has returned. He said no one knows if Lawing's paralysis would be temporary.

"But we're hoping," McDevitt said. "Only one knows and He's not saying."

The Burke County Sheriff's Office is still taking donations to help Lawing's family pay for expenses.

Checks can be made out to the Fraternal Order of Police with "For the Martin Lawing fund" in the memo portion of the check. Send donations to: Fraternal Order of Police, P.O. Box 1216, Morganton, NC, 28655.

Deputies are also holding a fundraiser for Lawing's family. For $10 per ticket, people can see arena racing at Cricket Arena in Charlotte.

The event is Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. For tickets, call Mike Ollis at 217-5562.

Also on Jan. 12, Food Lion stores in Burke and Catawba counties, as well as stores in Lenoir and Hudson, will have a barbecue fundraiser for Lawing's family from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Waits Gordon, who directs community events for Food Lion in Burke County, said he was approached by the SWAT team with the idea.

"We'll have the opportunity to raise a lot of money," Gordon said.

Plates of barbecue, rolls, beans and slaw are $7. Barbecue sandwiches, hot dogs or cheeseburgers are $5.

The community also can show its support for Lawing's family by flying a blue ribbon from car antennas, hanging the ribbons over the rearview mirror or displaying the ribbons in windows.

The idea started with Roger Suttles, a N.C. Department of Corrections officer at the Western Youth Institute, and Margaret Stump, administrative assistant to the sheriff.

Now Sonic Drive-In, on S. Sterling St. in Morganton, is displaying ribbons and handing them out to anyone who asks, said Assistant Manager Tina Jarvis.

Jarvis said she saw the idea in the newspaper and wanted Sonic to show its support, especially because her brother is a deputy.

Lawing, who is a member of the SWAT team, was shot in the neck while trying to make contact with Eva Joyce Nelson, 60, who shut herself in her home for about 13 hours when sheriff's deputies tried to serve involuntary commitment papers at the request of her daughter.

No one else was hurt during the standoff.

Nelson was taken to Broughton Hospital. If she is released, she will be served with a warrant for her arrest on the charges of assault on a law enforcement officer inflicting serious injury.