FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — A funeral was held Friday for a Winston Salem city worker who was shot and killed by a co-worker exactly a week ago. Family and friends of 48-year-old Terry Lee Cobb Jr. gathered at the Red Bank Baptist Church in Germanton in Forysth county to pay their last respects.
City officials and several members of staff were in attendance to show support to the family.
The mourners filed into the church one at a time and were followed by Cobb's wife, LaToya Forte Cobb, his three daughters, Jada, Serenity, and Katelyn and his son, Bryce Cobb. Cobb's father, Terry Ernestine Cobb, Sr., his brother, Terry Robinson of High Point, NC and two sisters, Tina Cochran of Winston-Salem and Vonda Frances Nottingham of Goldsboro were also left to mourn the loss.
Gallery: Images from Terry Cobb Jr.'s Funeral
Cobb Jr. died last week when one of his co-workers Steven Haizlip entered the Joycelyn V. Johnson Municipal building on Lowery Street with a gun. Police say Haizlip then shot Cobb over a dispute from the previous day that stemmed from a long-standing squabble. Police said Haizlip engaged officer in a shoot-out with police and he too was shot and killed.
One officer and another sanitation worker were injured.
"If you've got an issue with somebody talk it out but whatever you do gun violence is not the way to do it," said Neil Golden, one of Cobb's friends.
Cobb's friends said he was a loving dad and he loved to ride with his motorcycle club.
"Good dude, he and us would go riding and he'll say let's go... just a good guy," added Golden.
"Terry, he was an angel. He would give you the shirt off his back. He was a great family man and loved his kids," said Richard Fletcher.
"He was a very hard worker and anything he could do to help he would and that's why we loved him," he added.
Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines also condoled with the family and members of the community in attendance. While Cobb was specifically targeted by the shooter, the mayor said the incident exposed loopholes in security at some city buildings and facilities, which they are now looking to address.
"We have been looking at our whole security at all our buildings for some time, and actually we are getting ready to make some changes improving security in the workplace and we want to make sure our employees have a very safe and secure place to come to work every day," said Mayor Allen Joines.
Mayor Joines said some of those changes could include metal detectors.
Cobb was a 20-year Winston-Salem employee before his untimely death. He was buried at the Carolina Biblical Gardens of Guilford in Jamestown.