Suspect arrested after shooting at Love’s Travel Plaza, infant unharmed

A shooting at a Love’s Travel Plaza in Newton left a 27-year-old man in critical condition, but an infant riding in the vehicle escaped unharmed after the car crashed into a utility pole.

Newton police said officers were called to the travel stop on N.C. 10 near Southfork Drive around 1:25 p.m. Monday, May 11, 2026. When they arrived, they found a crashed vehicle pinned against the pole and a man inside suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Investigators identified the wounded man as Ronald David Rumley Jr., 27, of Marion. He was taken to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he remained in critical condition. A female passenger, Shayla Connelly of Marion, and her infant child were treated at Catawba Valley Medical Center and later released.

Police said Rumley and the suspect knew each other and had planned to meet at the truck stop before the violence unfolded. Investigators allege Jontavius Javez Littlejohn, 27, of Lincolnton, entered Rumley’s vehicle during an attempted robbery. During the encounter, gunfire erupted as another suspect allegedly tried to pull Connelly from the vehicle, and Rumley drove away before crashing.

Littlejohn was later located in South Carolina and taken into custody by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office. He is being held there pending extradition to North Carolina. Police said he faces charges including attempted first-degree murder, assault inflicting serious bodily injury and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Authorities said the investigation drew help from multiple agencies across North Carolina and South Carolina, including Homeland Security, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and several sheriff’s offices. The arrest closed one chapter of the case, but investigators are still piecing together how a planned meeting at a busy truck stop turned into a shooting that left a father critically injured and a child caught in the middle.