Good Guy with a Gun #75: Sanford, NC
Original incident: January 10, 2024. Where’s Waldo? He’s not staying here, pal.
These posts are based on our Good Guy with a Gun calendar. If you bought or received a calendar, contact me for a complementary subscription. Today’s post is essentially the same as the calendar version, though with a little more room to sprawl.
“Where’s Waldo?”
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office actually used those words in a press release to describe an incident in Sanford, North Carolina.
Unlike Waldo — I don’t know anything about that guy except his funky get-up — they knew a lot about 30-year-old Phillip Howard Fortune.
They knew they needed to execute a warrant for his arrest.
They knew the type of man he was. See the “Ambiguity” section farther down, and here’s a spoiler: He was ultimately charged with the following crimes.
Trafficking opioid by possession
Possess with intent to sell and deliver Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl)
Possess with intent to sell and deliver Schedule II controlled substance (cocaine)
Possess with intent to sell and deliver schedule marijuana
Sell and deliver Schedule II controlled substance
They knew where he was: at a specific house on James Street in Sanford.
But they didn’t know what he would do next. As it happens, he ran — disappearing into the woods behind the home.
He then broke into a house about two blocks away to hide. But what Fortune didn’t know is that that homeowner had a gun.
That was enough misfortune1 to thwart his escape attempt: Fortune fled the home, and deputies captured him. Back at the original house, deputies found fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, and a gun.
The armed homeowner’s answer to “Where’s Waldo?” is, “Not here, pal.”
Ambiguity
There’s something I’m not completely sure about, and that’s whether this Phillip Howard Fortune is the same as the one in this story. It almost has to be, but I hesitate to say it (and I’m sure my liability insurer is happier) for the following two reasons.
The Phillip Howard Fortune from the 2014 arrest was said to be 21; that matches up pretty well with him being 30 in the 2024 incident, but not perfectly — he should be 31 — and I’m pretty sure the birthday’s not an issue because there’s a prisoner in the county jail in Sanford, NC by that name who was born in February of 1993, which would have made him 30 at the time of today’s incident.
None of the people in the pictures really look like him to me. Compare the mug shot above to all of the people in the photo at this link.
If it’s the same guy, Fortune was apparently involved in a violent home invasion and murder in 2013, for which he was charged (along with others) with “first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of stolen goods, conspiracy and four counts of first-degree kidnapping.”
In addition, the Fayetteville Observer says, “Fortune was charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Michael Andre Smith on Christmas Eve [2013].”
If I’m right, this is the guy who suddenly showed up in some random guy’s house while running from the cops. Thank God the homeowner was armed.
Sources
Not a lot of variety on our news sources today.
WRAL, The Sanford Herald (paywall), WNCN 17, and WXII 12 all covered the incident with some variety, but not a lot of difference.
Sean Holt covered the incident at USA Carry.
You’re welcome, Michael; sorry, everyone else.
I can see why the photos make you hesitant about the identity . . . Whoever this guy is, it's good he wasn't able to do any further damage that night.