ZEBULON - Autopsy reports released last week reveal that Tariq Taylor – who in December shot three Food Lion employees at the Wendell grocer before taking his own life – died from asphyxiation.

Taylor, 25, hung himself with gas line tubing in a barn on Marshburn Road, according to the N.C. Medical Examiner’s office.

Taylor on Dec. 7, followed his partner, 20-year-old Jason Jeffrey, to his job at the local Food Lion. Taylor and Jeffrey argued at the front of the store, where Taylor then drew a pistol and started shooting.

Taylor shot Jeffrey twice, but also hit Food Lion employees Chiquita Baker and Laquanda Beechum.

Beechum, 19, and Baker, 22, were taken to the hospital and released the next day.

Jeffrey was shot in his back and ankle. He remained in critical condition for several days before his health improved.

Taylor’s pistol was found by police at the scene of the crime.

The Wake County sheriff’s office and Wendell police did not disclose the cause of death upon discovering Taylor’s body the morning of Dec. 8.

Toxicology reports released earlier this month showed that Taylor was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of his death.