Shooting victim was ‘the best of Pendleton’

PENDLETON, Ind. (WISH) - Police said it was a tragic case of “wrong place at the wrong time.” For so many in Madison County, that phrase brought the all too abrupt end of a man who touched lives through laughter.

“I’ll remember just his silliness,” said a teary eyed Noelle Shull, standing outside her home Friday morning. “He’s a prankster. He knew everyone, everywhere he goes, and he had no problem making me laugh every day. He was just the nicest person I’ve ever known.”

They were words Shull could never have known she’d be saying just 12 hours before.

That’s when her husband, John Neal Shull, Jr.—who went simply by Neal—left home for the final time.

The two had just moved in to the home two weeks ago. Around 9 p.m. Thursday, he went back to the couple’s old home to pick up some things, with a promise to be back two hours later.

That’s when the chaos hit.

“I watched it all go down,” Shull said. “The gunfire, the shooting, the police everywhere. But, it was so dark, I didn’t know it was my husband behind the other truck.”

She found out the hard way.

“My husband doesn't not come home. And he did not come home. I called him over and over. And, I was on Facebook. I was on Facebook with everyone saying—if you’ve seen my husband, please let me know,” Shull said.

“The victim was a friend of mine,” a tearful Pendleton Police Chief Marc Farrer announced early Friday morning. “This is an innocent victim--totally in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Police say Shull was likely caught behind suspect Kenneth James Bailey’s car as he tried to return home. It was over in a few short seconds, witnesses said, as Bailey opened fire on Shull’s car with a modified automatic weapon.

“It's like a dream,” said Shull’s sister Kristy Wright. “I don't think it's sunk in yet.”

It was a feeling mirrored in Shull’s three children and two stepchildren, as well as across the community, Friday.

“He was just the nicest man,” said neighbor Sally Ahlefeld. “He always spoke and was so friendly. It’s just a traffic loss. He was just a very friendly, outgoing—do whatever I can do for you person.”

Shull owned a N.S. Painting—a house painting business that his wife called “an extremely strong business.”

“I was very proud of how well respected it was and he was,” she said.

Shull was also active in the community, serving as a Kiwanis Club member who brought back Pendleton's classic car show, just two weeks ago. His Facebook page is filled with photos of him next to classic cars, and his wife of 8 years says they ran in his blood.

“He loved to restore old cars. That was his other woman—his 1952 Chevy. That was his other woman,” she said with a smile.

Then, pausing, she looked down.

“My husband was just a man trying to get home to his wife,” she said. “He wasn’t trying to interfere—just to get home. It’s tough, but we’ll get through it, because that’s the way he would’ve wanted it.”