A high school teacher from North Carolina was shot and killed while trying to rob a Mexican drug cartel during what authorities described as an "old Western shootout." Officials said that Union Academy Charter School Spanish teacher Barney Dale Harris and his brother-in-law, Steven Alexander Stewart Jr., broke into a mobile home in Alamance County, which was being used by a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as "stash house" for illegal drugs.

When the owner of the mobile home, Alonso Beltra Lara, returned he was ambushed by Harris and Stewart. They tied him up and shot him execution-style in the back of the head. He was still alive when police arrived and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Officials said that Harris was found in a bedroom of the mobile home with multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead at the scene. He was wearing a vest, mask, and gloves.

Investigators found more than 30 shell casings and said that several other trailer homes were struck by gunfire. Nobody else was injured.

"It was almost like an old Western shootout," Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said. "Projectiles going into the trailer, coming out of the trailer, hitting other trailers in that particular trailer park."

Stewart escaped unharmed and was taken into custody over the weekend. He was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and possession of a firearm by a felon in connection to the shooting. Authorities said that they are still looking for another suspect, identified as Juan Daniel Salinas Lara.

Johnson said that Harris was a member of a rival cartel, and he is concerned that the shooting may result in more violence between the cartels.

"When we are dealing with the Mexican drug cartels, somebody's probably going to die as a result of this right here somewhere else. And we did not want to put it out there until we could get good grips on what we had going on here."

Photo: Alamance County Sheriff's Office

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