Police: CIAA tournament went well, despite unaffiliated violence

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said Monday that the incidents of violence during the CIAA Tournament weekend were a worrisome but small part of an event that drew 100,000 people and more than 100 parties.

At a news conference, CMPD Deputy Chief Jeff Estes said that by the department’s standards, the city had an “excellent” CIAA event.

“We had more than 100,000 people in very small confined areas uptown,” he said. “We had parties all over the place, day parties and night parties. We had all kinds of entertainment. We had a basketball tournament ... that was taking place, and only two incidents of note.”

The first happened about 7 p.m. at Label, a club in the NC Music Factory complex. Someone opened fire, striking a woman in the head with a bullet, Estes said. She was not seriously injured. A short time later, a man showed up at a local hospital, saying he’d been shot in the leg at Label, police said.

Police have not released the victims’ names. They say the investigation is ongoing, but officers have not identified a suspect.

Police did arrest the manager of Label, Brandon Michael Rood. He was charged with selling untaxed liquor and another alcohol-related charge and released from Mecklenburg jail on $1,000 bail.

Six hours after the shooting, two people were stabbed at the Oasis Tent on College Street near uptown. Complicating matters, Estes said, someone knocked over a piece of furniture and partygoers thought there was a gun, sparking a mass exodus that injured some people.

Police announced Monday that they had charged Quincy L. Jones Jr., 23, with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in connection with the Oasis Tent incident. He was released from Mecklenburg jail on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Tuesday.

This year was the second in a row that someone was injured by violence during CIAA weekend.

A year ago, two men were shot in the leg during a party at the Sheraton Hotel that featured music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. The party took place after the CIAA tournament. It was not a CIAA-sanctioned event but was one of many party venues around the city.

All the violent events have happened at parties not connected with the tournament that cater to the thousands in town for a de facto college reunion. A spokesperson for the CIAA told the Observer the tournament is not affiliated with the parties where violence occurred. Police reported no trouble at CIAA-sanctioned events.

In each case that police responded to, someone managed to get a weapon into an event.

Estes said there is no law or city ordinance that would compel private promoters to have a certain level of security or thoroughly search patrons.

“Without meeting a legal standard, we don’t search anyone,” Estes said. “The searching is up to the private security at the private establishment as a condition of entrance. ... I don’t think there is anything that I could require people to be searched prior to entering.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Police: CIAA tournament went well, despite unaffiliated violence."