A man whose family had tried to have him committed to a mental hospital was charged with murder today for allegedly shooting at motorists as he roamed his neighborhood, killing four people and wounding five, the authorities said.
The man, wounded when sheriff's deputies returned his fire, was identified by Sheriff Preston Oldham of Forsyth County as Michael Charles Hayes, 24 years old, of Clemmons.
The Sheriff added that investigators had been unable to interview Mr. Hayes because of his wounds. Mr. Hayes, shot in the groin, leg and back, was reported in critical condition today at North Carolina Baptist Hospital.
Mr. Hayes's wife was nine months pregnant and had left him within the last two weeks, said a friend who identified himself only as Luther.
Mr. Hayes's stepfather, Garis Edwards, said family members tried to have him committed to a mental hospital Saturday after he broke one of his hands beating a wall. Hospital workers who treated the hand declined to commit him, Mr. Edwards said, and the sheriff's office said the commitment could wait until today.
Stan Parks, who lives across the street from a moped shop operated by Mr. Hayes, said two bullets struck his house and his wife and 15-month-old son huddled on the floor of a back bedroom.
An officer at the scene of the shooting today said the gunman had taken ''pot luck,'' shooting at any car driving through the neighborhood. Three people were found dead in their cars near the shop and a fourth died at a hospital. Two wounded drivers managed to get out of the neighborhood.
The Sheriff said the dead were Thomas Walter Nicholson, 24, Crystal Susan Cantrell, 16, Melinda Yvonne Hayes, 21, Lexington, no relation to Michael Charles Hayes, and Ronald Lee Hull, 32.