CIAA commissioner won’t address uptown gunfire that occurred before championship game

CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams said Thursday that the gunfire in First Ward before the men’s championship basketball game Feb. 25 was not connected to the tournament, and that she doesn’t have a comment on the violence.

“It was not connected to the tournament,” McWilliams told reporters after discussing the tournament with the City Council’s economic development committee. “That’s the sad part. Something that is not connected to the tournament or during the tournament, I have been asked to address. And I’m not going to address something that’s not connected to the tournament.”

She added: “Ask me about how many kids we have impacted. Ask me how many students athletes we helped.”

The CIAA has been held in Charlotte since 2006 and is the city’s largest annual tourism event. The CRVA has praised the CIAA for generating more than $31 million annually in direct spending during a slow period for tourism.

But there has been violence around the tournament in four consecutive years, including the Feb 25 shooting, in which police said as many as 100 rounds were fired.

No one was hurt or injured. Police are still investigating the shooting, which many have speculated targeted a hip-hop artist whose stage name is Young Dolph.

After the 2016 tournament – in which three out-of-town people allegedly used an AK-47 to fire as many as 50 rounds into a Hyatt hotel and condominium tower – the CRVA said it would work to improve security at non-sanctioned CIAA events.

McWilliams was asked by reporters whether the violence has impacted attendance.

“Absolutely not,” she said.

Seven council members discussed the tournament for nearly an hour Thursday with McWilliams, CRVA head Tom Murray and Ron Carter, president of Johnson C. Smith University, a CIAA school.

No council member asked the CRVA or the CIAA about the gunfire and whether there is a way to improve security for off-site events.

Much of the discussion focused on early-round games being played at Bojangles’ Coliseum for the first time this year, and whether the CRVA and the city could have made it easier for fans to find restaurants on Monroe Road and Central Avenue.

Council member James Mitchell, who chairs the committee, said he doesn’t like the decision to play early games at Bojangless’ Coliseum instead of the Spectrum Center. He said it’s a great experience for players to play in an NBA arena.

Murray said the small crowd sizes at early-round games can’t justify the $400,000 cost of renting the uptown arena for a full week.

Council member Ed Driggs, a member of the committee, arrived to the meeting late. He said he wasn’t sure if the gunfire had been addressed, so he didn’t bring it up. He said it should have been discussed.

“A lot of people are concerned,” he said after the meeting. “And we are spending $2 million on the tournament.”

Driggs was referring to the incentive package the CIAA receives for holding the weeklong event in the city.

The CRVA gave the CIAA $1.5 million for scholarships this year. The city gave the tournament $300,000 and the county also gave $275,000.

Mitchell has asked that the city’s public safety committee review security at events associated with the CIAA, but that committee hasn’t met yet.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 4:23 PM with the headline "CIAA commissioner won’t address uptown gunfire that occurred before championship game."