News Editor

Late Friday around 9 p.m. a suspect was taken into custody and confessed to the robbery and shooting of Huk-A-Buk Pit Barbecue owner Roy Faulkner, which occurred Wednesday evening.

The suspect, whose name cannot be released due to an ongoing investigation, was charged with attempted murder and robbery first degree and is being held on $1 million bond apiece for each crime, said Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas.

"We do have other very promising leads in this case," Thomas said. "We hope to bring closure to it very soon. We expect to be able to release a full statement in one or two days."

According to Thomas, the last customer left the barbecue restaurant on U.S. 231 at Pike County Road 17 between 7:30 p.m. and 7:40 p.m., Wednesday and Faulkner was "turning off the lights to close for the evening" when two black males wearing masks entered the restaurant.

"They demanded cash and took the cash bag which contained an undisclosed amount of money," Thomas said. "They also took the female’s purse and demanded keys to the vehicles parked outside. Faulkner gave them his truck keys and his ring of key and they snatched the phone out of the wall."

It was at that point, Thomas said, Faulkner was shot with an SKS assault rifle.

"After shooting Faulkner and severely wounding him they fled the scene," he said. "Faulkner’s wife then ran into the parking lot and fired several shots to attract attention from motorists on 231. When no one stopped she went back inside the building and set off the burglar alarm, and that was what we responded to."

Faulkner was transported by Haynes Ambulance to Edge Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and has been listed in critical condition since the incident.

"I’ve talked with the family about three times a day since then," Thomas said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family."

Thomas said as of Saturday evening Faulkner was still in ICU and listed in critical condition.

Since the robbery and shooting at Huk-A-Buk Wednesday night Thomas said he has been asked on several occasions about a vehicle with a Montgomery County tag being stopped in Troy.

"There was a car stopped on the by-pass in Troy with Montgomery County plates," he said. "There were two subjects and one fled during the investigation, but it was totally unrelated to the Huk-A-Buk investigation."

Thomas said he would like to express his appreciation to agencies that assisted the Pike County Sheriffs Department including the District Attorney’s office, the Violent Crimes Task Force in Montgomery, the Troy Police Department and the Department of Public Safety.

"We’ve been through an intense investigation and long hours," Thomas said. "I also want to thank our people for putting in the long hours that have been involved over the last several days."