APEX, N.C. – A man has been charged with murder and animal cruelty after a shooting in an Apex neighborhood. The suspect, former U.S. Army Capt. Harry Hardman, 37, appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon. He is accused of shooting and killing two women, identified as Gabrielle Raymond, 37, and Nancy Taylor, 69, and a dog. Police say the victims knew the suspect and were engaged in conversation with him before the fatal shots were fired.
The tragic event unfolded around 3 p.m. on Monday when Apex police received a call about a disturbance in the neighborhood. The situation escalated to a shots fired call, and officers arrived on the scene to find Hardman being confrontational and causing a disturbance. He was recorded screaming in the street by a resident in the neighborhood.
According to the police, Taylor approached Hardman and began speaking with him, and Raymond later joined the conversation. Hardman then allegedly shot both women, prompting neighbors to call 911. The victims were found laying in the front yard, and despite being rushed to the hospital, they succumbed to their injuries. The dog also died at the scene.
Hardman was seen retreating to his home, and after setting up a perimeter, the police were able to arrest him without further incident. Multiple handguns were recovered from Hardman’s home, with authorities believing that he used a handgun and not the AR-15 rifle to commit the crime. The specific motivation for the shooting remains unclear.
Neighbors and family members remembered the two women, describing Taylor as a grandparent and a retired individual who recently moved to North Carolina from Georgia. Raymond’s parents mentioned that their daughter was a chemical engineer and worked at RTI. There is uncertainty surrounding the associations between the victims and the suspect, as well as the exact events that led up to the shooting.
The suspect, Hardman, is a former captain in the U.S. Army and had recently worked as a real estate agent. There is no ongoing threat to the public, but the community is left reeling from the tragic event. Mayor Jacques Gilbert expressed the town’s grief and thanked first responders for their courage in responding to the scene. This incident marks the town’s first murder since 2020.