GREEN LEVEL, N.C. (AP) — A popular teacher in North Carolina has died in what authorities said was an “old Western shootout” with members of a Mexican drug cartel.

The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday that Barney Dale Harris taught Spanish at Union Academy Charter School in Monroe.

He was found dead April 8 in an Alamance County mobile home that authorities called a drug “stash house.”

Sheriff Terry Johnson said officers found Harris wearing a face cover, gloves and a bulletproof vest.

There were also 30 shell casings in and outside of the mobile home.

Authorities also said that 1.2 kilos of cocaine and about $7,000 in cash were found.