LINCOLNTON, NC (WBTV) -
Investigators in Lincoln County say an elderly couple was reading their Bible when a masked man broke into their home and stole their medication.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, the home invasion happened along the 3500 block of Goodson Road on Wednesday afternoon around 12:30 p.m.
911 operators say they got a call that a male dressed in all black, wearing a ski mask, ski suit, gloves and ski boots brandishing a handgun entered the residence. The suspect, described as slender-built, demanded money and prescription medication.
According to investigators, the male victim was reading his Bible when the suspect came into the house and pointed the gun at him.
The masked gunman then ran to a section of the house, where the medication was kept, grabbed a bottle of prescription medication and ran from the back of the residence into a wooded area.
As he was running from the home, the woman yelled that he "should be reading the Bible instead of committing crimes," the report states.
"The gunman told the couple not the call the police for 15 minutes or he would come back and kill them," Criminal Investigations Division Lt. Tim Johnson said. "They waited and called family members before calling 911. That gave the suspect a 30 minute head-start on the officers."
Deputies began searching the area and checked a barn in the 2500 block of Ivey Church Road but did not locate the suspect.
A tracking dog from the North Carolina Department of Corrections was also used in the search. The canine tracked to a driveway on Ivey Church Road where it appears a vehicle was parked.
"If you have a burglar alarm in your home you should activate it even in the daytime. It's sad, but in today's society it is not always safe to be in your own home with doors unlocked or open," Lt. Johnson also said. "In this case the alarm was not set and the suspect entered through an unlocked door."
Investigation into the home invasion is ongoing.
