Investigators in North Carolina still haven’t wrapped up their reports about the death of the man investigators in Cherokee County have linked to five murders here.

But even when they do, some say it’s doubtful North Carolina’s investigation into the death of Patrick Tracy Burris will shed light on why he targeted Cherokee County residents.

While there will be no prosecution in this case, Gaffney Police Chief Rick Turner says, “We’ve got all the evidence we need to proceed on all of the (five) cases.”

What he doesn’t have, however, is any reason for why two people were killed in his jurisdiction and three others were killed in the county.

“There’s no test to be given to find (Burris’) mental state,” Turner said. “That’s what this comes down to. There’s no way to determine that and never will be.”

Burris, a 41-year-old prison parolee from North Carolina, was killed in the early morning hours of July 6 in a shootout with members of the Gaston County Police Department in a home on Dallas-Spencer Mountain Road. Almost immediately, North Carolina investigators saw evidence of interest to the massive team assembled in Cherokee County to hunt for the person who shot and killed five local residents between June 27 and July 2. Within hours, that evidence, such as the gun he used in the shootout with Gaston County police, allowed investigators to link Burris to all five killings.

Chief Bill Farley of the Gaston County Police Department said he still has not yet heard the results of a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation probe into his officers’ shootout with Burris. A spokeswoman for the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office said the SBI investigation of the officerinvolved shooting remains open.

Also not released yet are medical examiner records related to autopsy and toxicology tests on Burris. According to the Chief Medical Examiners Office in North Carolina, the death records and reports are not yet complete and won’t be released until that happens.

Burris reportedly ingested large amounts of crack cocaine with several other people in North Carolina after each of the killings and unofficial reports suggest he tested positive for both narcotics and alcohol following his July 6 death, though such information has not been confirmed yet by North Carolina investigators.

In Gaffney, Chief Turner said his office’s investigation basically is closed in terms of interviews and evidence collection, but remains open in the hopes that more answers can be found.

“I would love to have answers for the families,” Turner said. “Anybody would like to know what brought this on – what the reasoning was.”

Turner said the department and other police agencies will likely use all of the information gleaned from their investigations as a learning tool.