Joshua Locklear of Pembroke said he thought he won $600 until he arrived at lottery headquarters on Monday and learned his lucky Fast Play ticket was worth more than half a million dollars.

“When I heard, I was like, ‘There’s no possible way I actually hit the jackpot,’” Locklear said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

But hitting a Fast Play jackpot was exactly what happened Sunday night when Locklear, 32, bought a $10 50X The Cash ticket at Pembroke Mini Mart on East Third Street in Pembroke.

The Fast Play rolling jackpot grows with every ticket purchased. When Locklear made his purchase, it had just reached $585,949.

All Locklear knew at the time of his win was that he had to get his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. On Monday morning, he took home $416,085 after required state and federal tax withholdings.

“I really wasn’t expecting that, that’s for sure,” Locklear said. “It really did come at the right time though.”

Locklear said he would like to buy a house and a car with his winnings. He said he’d also like to give back to the community as well.

When a Fast Play jackpot is won, it starts over at $20,000. On Tuesday afternoon, the jackpot was $39,000 and growing. A $10 ticket, like 50X The Cash, receives 100 percent of the jackpot amount. The odds of winning a Fast Play jackpot are 1 in 320,000.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education. The state provided $40 million in grants, using money raised by the lottery, to help Robeson County with school construction. For details on other ways Robeson County benefits from lottery funds, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.