A Quiet Monday Afternoon Shattered: The Mystery on US-70

It was a Monday afternoon, you know, the kind that often just… fades into the week. But for those traveling a particular stretch of US-70 in Wayne County, near the familiar turn-off for Woodpeck Road, this past Monday would be anything but ordinary. In truth, it quickly became the scene of a disquieting discovery, one that has deputies from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office working to unravel a sudden and violent mystery.

The first alerts came in as a series of urgent calls—reports, if you can imagine, of gunshots echoing through the air. And upon arrival, law enforcement found something profoundly unsettling: a 33-year-old man, identified as Quinton Dewayne Thompson, injured and lying in the highway’s median. A gunshot wound, no less. It’s the sort of news that sends a shiver down your spine, isn't it?

Thompson was quickly, mercifully, transported from that roadside scene. He made his way to ECU Health Medical Center, where, thankfully, he's reported to be in stable condition. A small relief, perhaps, in what remains a deeply troubling situation. But the big questions, the really crucial ones, linger heavy in the air. What precisely happened out there on US-70? Who, and why?

For now, the details are, shall we say, scarce. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office hasn't released much beyond the initial facts, which, honestly, is often the case when an investigation is in its crucial early stages. No arrests have been made, not yet anyway. And you have to wonder, doesn't it make you wonder, what sequence of events led to a man being shot and left on a highway median?

It serves as a stark, if unwelcome, reminder that even the most routine drives, the most seemingly quiet stretches of road, can hide a darker undercurrent. Investigators are actively pursuing leads, of course. But they're also, quite naturally, asking for the public's help. If you happened to be driving by, if you saw something—anything—that seemed out of place around US-70 and Woodpeck Road this past Monday afternoon, well, your information could be the very piece that helps solve this puzzle. It always comes down to someone knowing something, doesn't it?