WINTON – The individual responsible for shooting two women before taking his own life here this past weekend has been identified.

According to Hertford County Sheriff Dexter Hayes, the assailant is identified as 37-year-old James Ennis Sutton of Ahoskie.

A report filed by Hertford County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Williams showed that he responded to a call at 3:31 a.m. on Saturday (July 28) at Sedgewood Apartments, located off Jordan Street, in Winton. There, Williams, joined by another deputy, found two females suffering from gunshot wounds. The women were outside, both adjacent to a parked vehicle.

“The victims, one of the sister of the assailant and the other his girlfriend, both identified the shooter as James Sutton,” Sheriff Hayes stated. “Following the shooting, Mr. Sutton fled the scene.”

Hertford County EMS arrived and transported both victims to the hospital. One was treated and released while the other remained hospitalized as of Wednesday. Hayes said she is expected to survive.

After securing the scene, Williams and two other deputies went in search of Sutton.

Initially, the apartment where one of the victims lived was searched, with no results. However, upon exiting the backdoor of that apartment, the deputies saw a male lying motionless on the ground, suffering from a single gunshot wound. That male was later identified as Sutton. A .40 caliber handgun, later determined as stolen, was located at his feet.

A further canvass of the area near the shooting turned up a bullet hole in another apartment. That bullet had penetrated an outside wall before entering an interior wall of a bedroom.