HAMLET — A man with a history of assault is charged in a recent shooting.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, first responders were dispatched to a home on North Street, west of Hamlet, on Tuesday, Jan. 31 in reference to someone being shot.
Deputies and members of Hamlet Fire and Rescue reportedly found a male victim with a single gunshot wound to the head/face area.
The unnamed victim was treated and taken to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital-Richmond for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators arrested 35-year-old Thomas Earl Guinn Jr., of the same street, and charged him with one count each of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Guinn was booked into the Richmond County Jail where he is being held on a $100,000 secured bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 16.
While Guinn has no other pending charges, records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show he has a history of violence.
He was first convicted in 2005 of assault with a deadly weapon and assault inflicting serious injury. Guinn was initially given probation, which was revoked in 2007, leading to a two-month incarceration.
On the same day records show Guinn was released, he was convicted on a felony count of assault inflicting serious injury stemming from a 2006 incident. He was committed for an evaluation and spent two more months behind bars.
Less than a month after his release, Guinn’s sentence was amended and he went back to prison for six months.
In 2012, Guinn was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and assault inflicting serious injury in Scotland County and given probation.
Guinn was convicted in Moore County in 2018 on misdemeanor counts of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, and given probation.
The following year, back in Richmond County, Guinn was convicted of breaking and entering with the intent to terrorize or injure. His initial probation was revoked in 2020 and he served less than four months.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
