GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A family in Gaston County is longing for justice after someone killed their loved one while he was helping a friend.
Tim Philbeck’s family says he befriended almost everyone he met. On Friday night, he went to a wooded trail off Goble Street to help a friend whose truck got stuck in the mud.
Someone started shooting, and Philbeck never made it home.
Channel 9 Gaston County Reporter Ken Lemon spoke to Philbeck’s family, who say he was a kind and reliable man with a comforting touch.
“They took something away from us that can’t be replaced,” said Vickie Parton, Philbeck’s sister.
Parton said Philbeck got word from his friend that he needed help getting his truck out of the mud.
“He didn’t want to go. He had stuff to do,” Parton said. “But he talked him into anyway, and then he ended up dead.”
Neighbors said someone in the area fired shots as the two men struggled to get the truck out. One shot hit and killed Philbeck; his friend escaped the gunfire.
“Tim lost his life in a place he had never been before,” said David Parton, Philbeck’s brother in law.
They said Philbeck had no enemies and never caused trouble. They said it’s hard to believe he did something here that turned fatal.
“He did not deserve that,” Vickie said.
“It’s just hard to wrap your mind around it,” David said.
They’re waiting to learn more about what happened near Goble Street, and why it led to this. Meanwhile, the Gaston County Police Department says they’re still investigating the shooting. Nobody has been charged yet.
Vickie told Lemon she has just one question for the person who took her brother’s life.
“Why? Why did you shoot him? I just want to know,” she said.
The family just got Philbeck’s body back from the medical examiner’s office. Vickie says she would love to have answers before the memorial service.
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