News

Police investigating shooting death outside Henderson Crossing restaurant

Elijah Edward Timmons III

By Lightning Reports, Published: November 24, 2023

Hendersonville police are investigating a murder after a 30-year-old Asheville man with a long criminal record was found dead outside a restaurant at the Henderson Crossing shopping center early Friday, the city said.

Officers were dispatched at 2:36 a.m. Friday to the Orchard Bar & Grill in reference to a disturbance involving gunshots in the parking lot of the shopping center on Four Seasons Boulevard at Dana Road.

Upon arrival, officers found a deceased male on the ground who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Officers found and secured a firearm believed to belong to the victim, whom they identified as Elijah Edward Timmons III of Asheville.

A preliminary investigation showed that Timmons had been engaged in an altercation with a suspect before he was fatally shot. The suspect remains at large; however, the shooting is believed to be an isolated incident with no ongoing threat to public safety, police said.

WLOS-TV reported that Timmons was charged on July 22 in Asheville for failure to appear in court on two courts of speeding, reckless driving, fictitious tag, four counts of driving while license revoked, no liability insurance, failure to comply with license restrictions and simple possession of marijuana. He was charged in 2019, the station reported, with communicating threats, two counts of felony probation violation, driving while license revoked, reckless driving and fleeing to elude arrest in a motor vehicle.

Anyone with information on the shooting was asked to contact police Lt. Alan Bonanno at 828-697-3025. Tips may also be submitted through the Hendersonville police app, which can be downloaded from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store by searching “Hendersonville PD.”