JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- As Domestic Violence Awareness month comes to an end, the Onslow Women's Center in Jacksonville, a shelter and resource center for victims, managed to raise about $130,000 and counting with their Dancing Stars of Onslow County, event.

• A well-known Jacksonville realtor was shot at close range by a former partner, who then took his own life.
• Officials say they receive about 500 calls to their crisis center every year and shelter about 125 residents at the Onslow Women’s Center
• A GoFundMe page has been set up for Susan Montag and her children.

Some of the dancers had an up close and personal experience Friday when a well-known Jacksonville realtor was shot at close range by a former partner, who then took his own life.

"They knew that what they were dancing for was very real. Here, they were with a good friend who was suffering from the same thing, they had already signed up and had been practicing and been working on for months and it all kind of came together,” said Brenda Vega, one of the Executive Directors of the Onslow Women’s Center.

Last Friday, Jacksonville Police say at about 1:30 p.m., an SUV slammed into a parked car, t-boning it right in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot in the 400 block of Western Boulevard. An armed man walked up to the vehicle and shot the woman inside several times before driving away. 52-year-old Susie Pryor Montag was taken to a hospital in Greenville, sustaining several shots to the head.  Police later went to the Jacksonville home of Charles Harper Jr., the suspected gunman, but found him dead of an apparent suicide.  Co-workers at Choice Jacksonville Realty say they were stunned and say the pair was in a long-term relationship that recently ended.

Vega, however says, this is typical behavior of domestic violence abusers.

“The first two to three months after a person leaves a relationship is probably the most deadly time. They're very upset and they're angry they're about to lose all control. Often what they do is threaten to kill themselves but what they usually do is try to hurt the other person,” Vega said. “There were 59 people over the state of North Carolina this past 12 months who could not get away safely.”

Vega says they receive about 500 calls to their crisis center every year and shelter about 125 residents at the Onslow Women’s Center.

For anyone who needs any assistance with domestic violence and sexual assault in Onslow County, call 910-347-7960.

Those who want to help Susan Montag with medical expenses and financial support for her two children can do so on the "Support Susie Montag" GoFundMe page.

This Gofundme.com site is not managed by Spectrum News. For more information on how this site works and the rules, visit gofundme.com/safety.