Death metal:
But seriously though, this is far from a laughing matter.
Eric Shute, the former frontman of New York veteran death metal act Pyrexia, has been charged in relation to a gruesome triple homicide in the US.
Police are alleging that the 32-year-old ambushed three men with an AR-15 assault rifle following a dispute about some firewood.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
As Loudwire reports, on the evening of June 13th, Shute allegedly opened fire on Jack Douglas, Travis Bartley (24), and Willie Bartley (53) near Great Cacapon, West Virginia.
Another man managed to escape the siege and call police, telling them that Shute had taken refuge behind an oak tree and was firing on them from a distance of 20 to 25 yards (18-22 metres) away.
Shute then fled, before police caught up with him in Pennsylvania and took him into custody.
Morgan County Sheriff Vincent Shambaugh told the Journal News that the alleged gun massacre was the result of “a property dispute over some firewood, or something of that nature”.
While in a now-deleted Facebook post, Shute claimed that he acted in “self defense” and that his victims had stolen “$20,000 of my stuff and sold it for drugs”.
Despite Shute’s claims that “This is an open and shut case of self defense and that [police] probably won’t even pursue charges”, he’s now been charged with triple murder.
Herald Mail Media has described the singer as an “end of times” prepper, and a search of his property reportedly turned up a stockpile of food, weapons and ammo.
He also has a history of violence, after being arrested in 2011 for aggravated assault of a police officer, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.
During the cops’ eight-hour manhunt for Shute, two judges and local officers’ wives were reportedly relocated to “safer places” because Shute had also made threats against them in the past.
He fronted Pyrexia for many years and contributed to two of their records, 2007’s Age of the Wicked and 2013’s Feast of Iniquity.
The band has issued their own statement in reaction to the news of his arrest:
“As we watch this event unfold , we are shocked and saddened to learn that our former singer Erick has been involved in what seems to be a shooting by his own hands. Although all the details have yet to unravel, and he hasn’t been an active member of Pyrexia for some time now , we have been rocked by this horrible news. There’s no question the man had obscure views and was an odd and quiet person at times , but you try and accept a persons shortcomings or different viewpoints. No one saw this in him.”
