DOBSON — The suspected shooter in what authorities are calling a murder-suicide attempt Thursday night died late that night, while the victim was still in critical condition Friday night, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.

Margaret Coe Dixon, 62, was shot in the head by a male suspect Thursday night in a mobile home located at 641 Cave Road, shortly after deputies from the Surry County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene. Her assailant, who authorities are not yet identifying, apparently turned the gun on himself, administering a fatal gunshot wound to the head, after shooting Dixon.

Just before the shooting, a third person, Johnny Wayne Dixon, 26, the son of Margaret Dixon, escaped from the home.

Authorities believe the dispute which lead to the shooting may have begun with a disagreement at another residence earlier in the event.

Sheriff Graham Atkinson said officers initially received the call to a mobile home just after 8:30 p.m., with the caller stating simply that they “needed help.”

The initial report gave no indication as to the nature of the call.

When officers responded to the scene, a male subject at the residence told them to wait “just a minute,” Atkinson said, adding that the responding officers reported that they could hear what appeared to be a domestic disturbance in the background.

A second officer looked through a window and “observed the same male subject holding a handgun and a female later identified as Margaret Coe Dixon, 62, sitting on a bed in front of the male subject.”

Shortly after noticing the subject with the firearm, the lights in the mobile home were turned off, preventing officers from seeing what was going on in the home, Atkinson said.

After the lights were turned off, officers spotted a third subject, identified by police as Johnny Wayne Dixon, 26, the son of the shooting victim, exited the mobile home.

“The officers on the scene secured the son as he was leaving the residence, and continued to try to make contact with someone inside,” Atkinson said.

After hearing two gunshots, the officers made a forced entry into the residence, where they discovered Dixon with a single gunshot to the head and the male suspect — who officers had observed holding the handgun — with a single, apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The male subject was airlifted to Wake Forest Baptist Health along with Dixon, where he was pronounced dead at 10:38 p.m. He was 53, Atkinson said. Police are declining to identify him pending notification of next of kin, but police believe he shared the Cave Road address with Dixon.

After securing a search warrant for the residence, police discovered a .38 caliber handgun with two spent rounds they believe was used in the shooting. The gun was discovered in the room where both the Dixon and the male subject were located.

While it could not be confirmed by officials at the hospital, Margaret Dixon is reportedly in critical condition.

Reach Keith Strange at kstrange@heartlandpublications.com or 719-1929.