An afternoon rampage by a real estate agent in Greeneville has left multiple people dead and countless individuals processing the violent rampage. The violent murders have left families, friends, neighbors and students processing the events and the loss of precious lives. 

Emergency services were dispatched to a home in Greenville, North Carolina where an elderly couple were murdered and the suspect was being held at gunpoint on Friday, January 10th, 2025. Calls continued to emergency services throughout the afternoon as a chaotic and violent scene unfolded at multiple locations.

When law enforcement arrived, the scene itself would be one for the books of any police officer or detective. A brutal scene of an 80-year-old man, Tony Gribble, and his wife, 76-year-old Paula Gribble. Unlike most brutal crime scenes, there wasn’t a mountain of work standing between law enforcement and the suspect. Typically the work begins immediately to track the suspect’s identity, and then to also track down the suspect they identify. The only thing standing between officers and the suspect was Tony and Paula Gribble’s son, holding  David Lever at gunpoint.

His arrest was swift, but the totality of his alleged rampage was far from over. As officers were assessing the scene at the Gribble’s home, more calls to emergency services were received before and after the crime happened at the Gribble’s home. Just over an hour later, emergency responders were on their way to another nearby home, and based on the call, another murder scene awaited law enforcement.

“Tonight was supposed to be Sunday dinner, but it’s not,” a man in North Carolina, TD Gribble, told Alaina Laster, a reporter for WCTI.

TD Gribble is the son of a recon marine and a nurse, Tony and Paula Gribble. Their son spoke to the media on Sunday, just two days after the horrific crimes, about the role his parents played in his life and who they were before this nightmare unfolded. He spoke about his parents in a very heartfelt, genuine manner about how they embodied their faith and family. You could hear it in his voice as he spoke about his parents, they were close and this is clearly very painful for the family to process.

The Gribble’s son likely stopped further carnage by humanely taking action when his mother notified him that the suspect, David Lever, was at his parents home. According to court documents, Lever told the Gribble’s son that he killed Tony and Paula Gribble. Their son noted that mental health and/or substance abuse could be an issue. He was too late to save his parents, Tony and Paula Gribble, but his choice to hold the suspect at gunpoint is quite a testament to the son that Tony and Paula Gribble raised. It would have been easy to be overcome by emotion and the desire for revenge as he held his parents alleged killer while he awaited law enforcement.

Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of a very long day. The Gribble’s were not the suspect’s first victims of the day. Law enforcement began to string together several calls and establish evidence that the string of violent crimes throughout the afternoon were all allegedly connected to David Lever.

The suspect, David Lever, allegedly shot a man in the head just before approaching the Gribble’s home. The man was traveling home from the grocery store, it appears he arrived home but the rest of the details are still being investigated. The man, Enrique Reyes, was found in his driveway by a passerby who called emergency services to report that a man appeared to be deceased.

Enrique Reyes left the store around 1:20 p.m., and the call from the passerby was received around 3:35 p.m. The exact timeline is still being pieced together, it is unknown the exact time that Reyes was shot. Considering that he left the store around 1:20 p.m. and David Lever was seen leaving his nearby home at 1:28 p.m., it is likely that the shooting took place not long after Reyes arrived home.

Enrique Reyes was a retired professor who has left behind many people who are now painfully processing his tragic death. Friends have spoke to the media about Reyes and they describe a kind man who positively impacted the people around him. Friends and students of Reyes are shocked by the details that they feel will now overshadow his accomplishments and legacy.

Just before the murders, Lever fired his gun at a gas station and a residence in the nearby area. It appears that he tried to enter an unrelated residence and the owners noticed him as he was leaving their driveway.

The exact motive and specific details about David Lever’s actions are still being fully investigated. Reports have claimed that Lever had no connection to his victims, and that may not be entirely true. While there may not be a significantly close connection, there do appear to be connections and Lever is fairly known in the area as a top real estate agent. The Gribble’s son told WITN that Lever was an acquaintance to his parents.

David Lever’s Greenville home sits back off the road with a tree-line surrounding it. Law enforcement found over 50 weapons in the home. According to a search warrant, recent domestic abuse issues were already being investigated by law enforcement. The abuse was alleged to be occurring between Lever and a girlfriend who was not at the residence when they conducted the search warrant.

Prior interactions between Lever and law enforcement reveal possible mental health concerns and domestic issues that appeared to possibly increase by the summer of 2023, including an attempt to admit Lever to a mental health facility involuntarily.

The outcome on January 10th in Pitt County, North Carolina is a similar scene as what we are all seeing unfold across the nation. While the motive and many other details are still being investigated, based on information about David Lever’s interactions with law enforcement, it appears that this crime can be attributed to the slew of violent crimes that appear to have two common components, ongoing mental health concerns and a major life event.

Mental health concerns are not a justification for violent crimes in most cases, but observing the patterns could possibly assist in leading to prevention of violent crimes that appear to have a component of mental health concerns and/or a major negative life event, such as divorce, financial stress, etc.