Migrant workers robbed, one killed in Bladen County

ELIZABETHTOWN, NC (WWAY) — One migrant worker is dead after a home invasion in Bladen County late Friday evening.

According to Sherriff James A. McVicker, a group of migrant workers arrived in the county this week to pick blueberries and were staying at a mobile home on Oakview Trail in Elizabethtown.

Leonardo Zongua, 33, was shot twice after struggling with a man with a rifle. He was pronounced dead in the emergency room at Bladen County Hospital.

McVicker said around 9:30 p.m. the workers were outside of their home and we approached by a group of men asking if they wanted to buy marijuana. When the workers declined, the men pulled guns, made everyone get on the ground and robbed them. Zongua and another man were forced to go into the home while the robbers searched it. When Zongua resist being searched, a struggled followed, when another victim joined in the fight several shots were fired and Zongua was shot at least twice.

“Right now we know we have six victims, five males and one female, who were held at gunpoint and robbed by several black males described as being in their late teens to early twenties,” said McVicker. “These workers had just arrived in the county this week to begin harvesting blueberries. They were here for the season and probably would have moved on up the coast following the harvest in a few weeks.”

If you know any information you should contact the Bladen County Sherriff’s Office at 910-862-6960.