Husband charged in deadly Lowe’s shooting

A shooting Sept. 26, in the parking lot of the Lowe’s store in North Myrtle Beach, left a woman dead and her husband in critical condition with what police thought were life-threatening injuries.

The husband, 61-year-old Robert Arthur Parker was released from a North Carolina trauma center Tuesday and charged with killing his wife in the shooting.

Parker was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center just past 7 p.m. Tuesday.

North Myrtle Beach Police responded to the Lowe’s store at the 2nd Avenue North and Highway 17 Business intersection around 10:50 a.m. on Sept. 26 following two calls to Horry County dispatch.

The shooting killed 46-year-old Donna Parker of Longs, according to Horry County deputy coroner Tamara Willard.

Police said witnessed saw her husband, Robert Parker, approach the victim in the parking lot, while she was sitting inside a white Chevrolet truck.

Witnesses told police they heard a gunshot, then Robert Parker shot himself.

“There’s a man shooting himself and he just shot somebody else,” a caller told Horry County dispatchers following the shooting.

“One is inside the truck and I believe he might be dead and the other one committed suicide on himself in the parking lot,” the caller said.

A second caller told dispatchers, “I’m in the Lowe’s shopping center in North Myrtle Beach and someone is with a shotgun shooting right now…I know one is down; he just shot himself.”

Medics rushed the female Parker to the Grand Strand Regional Medical Center where she died a short time later.

Rescue crews airlifted Robert Parker to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in critical condition.

The victim died from the gunshot wounds, according to Willard.

News13 learned Donna Parker was arrested and charged with criminal domestic violence on August 13 after Horry County Police said she physically assaulted her husband.

On Sept. 3, Robert Parker filed for a divorce, according to county court records.

The couple lives at a home on Grizzly Road in Little River, but neighbors told News13 Donna Parker moved out weeks ago after the couple started having trouble in their relationship.

Robert Parker was staying at the home and Donna Parker moved to the Longs area, according to neighbors.

Donna Parker had two daughters, according to authorities.

Donna Parker owned and operated Top to Bottom Cleaners, a cleaning serviced licensed to do business in Horry County since 2003, according to county records.

The business license was valid and active as of this posting.

You can count on News13 to update this story as details become available.