2 children were shot in their sleep at west Charlotte apartment, police say

Two children were injured in their sleep Thursday morning after at least one person shot through the bedroom window of their west Charlotte apartment, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.

Police were called to the Little Rock Apartments in the 5700 block of Leake Street around 2 a.m., where the boys — 9-year-old Jeremiah and 11-year-old Darryl — were injured. Police did not provide their last name.

One boy was shot in the hip and the other was shot in the arm, police said. They’re both at Carolinas Medical Center and expected to recover.

“Nothing worse can happen to a family during this holiday season (than) something as senseless as this,” CMPD Chief Kerr Putney said. “We as a community are better than this, and we owe it to this family to show them.”

Putney called for witnesses to come forward Thursday afternoon, and he encouraged the suspect or suspects to do the same.

Officials aren’t sure how many suspects were involved in the shooting, but they do know they were on foot and were behind the apartment building, police said.

Other residents in the apartment weren’t injured, police said.

Putney said police are not ready to say whether the shooting was random.

“I would suspect...that there’s more to the story,” he said. “There always is.”

On Thursday morning, hours after the children were shot, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and community members delivered Christmas gifts to children around the city as part of the CMPD Police Explorers program.

Darryl and Jeremiah were actually on the list to receive gifts, Putney said, but of course, they were in the hospital by then.

Putney said the city is making sure both children along with their family members will receive Christmas gifts soon. United Way of Central Carolinas is collecting donations for the family at the property office for Little Rock Apartments, at 5712 Leake Street.

Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case, Putney said. Call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 if you can provide any information.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 6:46 AM with the headline "2 children were shot in their sleep at west Charlotte apartment, police say."