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Moore County sheriff's deputies hope to make two arrests soon in connection with a shooting Saturday night in Eastwood.

Deputies and other law-enforcement officers have been searching for David Rashawn Shaw, 22, and Jason McLean, 25, both of Southern Pines.

Shaw was once charged with beating Sherry Bean, setting her on fire and leaving her for dead in 2003. A District Court judge found no probable cause and released Shaw after a witness recanted a statement to police that incriminated him.

Loren Ellis, 27, of Southern Pines, was shot in the stomach near Ester Road in Eastwood at about midnight Saturday. Deputies speculate the suspects either left him for dead or fled in fear.

"I would say they thought they killed him," Detective Tim Davis said. "It's hard to say either way."

In any case, Ellis managed to drag himself to a nearby home and ask for help. Someone called the Moore County Sheriff's Department.

By the time deputies arrived, Ellis was in and out of consciousness, Davis said. Ellis was alert enough to finger Shaw and McLean as his assailants, Davis said.

The narrative written by the responding deputy in the investigation report indicates that Ellis specifically said that it was Shaw who pulled the trigger.

"When I arrived I saw Loren Ellis on his back at the front door," it says. "I saw that he was bleeding from his stomach and asked him what happened and he said, 'David Shaw shot me.' I asked if was sure it was David Shaw and he said, 'Yes, and he is headed back to Southern Pines.' "

Ellis said Shaw was in a black Ford sport utility vehicle.

The three knew each other and may have even been friends, Davis said.

"I asked him if he knew why they shot him," Davis said. "He shook his head 'No,' but I don't know, he could have been in too much pain."

First responders took Ellis from the scene, and he has been recovering in an undisclosed hospital. Deputies are not revealing the name of the hospital where was taken because of concerns about his safety. According to the report, Ellis had an entry wound near his navel and a possible exit wound on his left side.

Davis said Tuesday that he was going to speak with the victim that day and that he hoped Ellis would have some idea where the two would go to hide out.

Deputies have obtained arrest warrants charging Shaw and McLean with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury.

Shaw is 6 feet tall and weighs about 170 pounds. McLean is 6 feet tall and about 160 pounds.

Shaw had been charged with attempted murder in the Bean case.

In the early morning of March 25, 2003, a tree-trimming crew found a naked, beaten and burned 27-year-old woman lying on the concrete floor of an abandoned garage at the end of Fire Lane Road in Southern Pines.

They thought she was dead until they saw her leg move. Police later found her clothes in a nearby dumpster.

Bean had been doing drugs the night before at Holiday Town Apartments.

At some point that evening, someone beat her badly enough to fracture her skull and then piled pine straw and sticks on top of her and set them on fire.

She went through two different hospitals, and endured dozens of operations including skin grafts and amputations of her right arm and most of the fingers of her left hand. She had a hole in her head to let excess fluid drain and for a long time could only answer questions by moving her tongue.

Southern Pines police arrested Shaw after taking a statement from his stepfather, who told them that Shaw came to him at 3 a.m. the night of the attack and asked him for a cigarette.

Police later said in court that the stepfather told them the details of a conversation he and Shaw had in the hallway.

Police believe Shaw told him that a "white crackhead" had been following him and that he "just lost it" and beat her with a brick.

When called to testify during a probable cause hearing a month later, the stepfather denied that he had ever made such statements. Police never got him to sign the statement, so the judge ruled that there was no probable cause to try Shaw for the crime and freed him.

In June 2005, Shaw was one of five men arrested and charged with armed robbery of the Short Stop gas station in downtown Southern Pines.

One of the men arrested along with Shaw in that case is named Jason Troy McClean, then 24. Southern Pines police said that they couldn't confirm if that is the same person the Sheriff's Department is currently looking for, but considering the similarity in age and name, Lt. Rodney Hardy said that it is a possibility.

Shaw served three months in prison after being convicted of the crime in January.

Sheriff's deputies are asking that anyone with any information about the whereabouts of Shaw or McLean call 947-2931.

Matthew Moriarty can be reached at 693-2479 or by e-mail at moriarty@thepilot.com.