The Moore County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that three people wanted for attempted murder who had been on the run since August had been arrested in New York.

According to Chief Deputy Neil Godfrey, David Rashawn Shaw, 22; Jason McLean, 25; and Eddie Lee Whitehead Jr., 22, all of Southern Pines, were picked up on unrelated charges and are being held in New York.

The circumstances of the arrest are unclear at this point.

The shooting occurred Aug. 19 in Eastwood. The victim, Loren Robert Ellis, 27, of Southern Pines, specifically told deputies that Shaw pulled the trigger and shot him in the stomach, according to the investigation report.

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

The U.S. Marshal Service arrested the three on Wednesday. The Sheriff's Office is in the process of having the three suspects extradited.

Deputies obtained warrants charging all three with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

Shortly after the shooting, deputies named Shaw and McLean as suspects. The investigation report quotes Ellis -- who had dragged himself from the road to a home -- as saying Shaw shot him.

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

Ellis has since been released from hospital care.

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