An 81-year-old Union County man was shot and killed with his own gun early Thursday morning after a man broke into his home and fought him for the weapon, according to Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards.
Edwards told Fox News Digital that Eric Basco entered Bobby McGill’s home around 4 a.m. while McGill and his wife, Peggy, were asleep. McGill struggled with Basco, who got control of a pistol McGill kept near the foot of his bed and shot McGill multiple times.
“It appears that there was a struggle that had ensued between the assailant and the homeowner,” Edwards said. “It looks like to us that what we’re piecing together, is that he may have tried to get that pistol and the individual was fighting him, and they had a fight and the guy got the pistol and shot Mr. Bobby multiple times.”
Peggy McGill escaped the home and called 911, telling dispatchers someone had come into their house and attacked her husband, Edwards said.
Edwards said he believes burglary was the likely motive, and that Basco later went into a bathroom inside the home and shot himself. Basco died at a hospital.
A Possible Clue on Video
Investigators recovered video from the evening before the shooting that appears to show Basco walking down a road about 1.5 miles from the McGill home, throwing his hands in the air and shouting something that sounded like “God is dead.”
“It sounds like on the video that we saw that he was saying, ‘God is dead.’ Now, like I said, we’re not 100% sure of that, but it sounds like that’s what he was sayin’. And in Mr. Bobby’s yard was a cross and a sign that said, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ So did that help lure him to that house? I don’t know. I’m not saying it did. I’m not saying it had anything at all to do with it. But it’s a question that I have in my head if that played a part or not. I don’t know, we’ll probably never know,” Edwards said.
“It was a very sad, tragic thing, just for no reason,” Edwards added.
The sheriff said Basco had no criminal history beyond minor traffic violations, and said he believes “something mentally wrong with him or something that altered his thinking” may have been involved. He described the McGills as “very good citizens.”
Family Remembers Bobby McGill
McGill’s granddaughter wrote a tribute on Facebook, saying, “My Papaw loved the Lord above all else & he loved his family with his whole heart.”
“What a great man. He led his life by example of what it looks like to walk with Jesus. He made sure you couldn’t leave a conversation with him without hearing about Jesus. His faith became sight this morning,” she wrote. “How lucky are we to have the hope of eternity so we can see him again one day. This world & the people in it can be so evil. Please be in prayer for our family in the days to come.”
