Woman detained after reports of a gunshot near Epicentre in uptown, police say

A woman is in custody after a gunshot was reported near Epicentre in uptown Charlotte early Monday, police said.

Around 6:45 a.m., officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call in the 200 block of South College Street near Epicentre, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a news release. A security officer told officers a woman armed with a rifle had fired at least one round, CMPD said.

Officers found the woman sitting against the wall on the ground level next to Epicentre, police Capt. Brad Koch told reporters outside the entertainment venue. She appeared to be in her 40s or 50s and had a “long gun,” Koch said.

Officers evacuated the area and shut down Church, Fourth and Trade streets.

CMPD’s Community Policing Crisis Response and SWAT teams arrived at the scene to de-escalate the situation, police said.

The woman had a rifle and refused to comply with officers’ orders, police said.

Just after 7:30 a.m., SWAT team members took her into custody without incident, police said. Medic took her to a medical facility for evaluation.

No injuries were reported, police said.

Police were still trying to determine if the shot was accidental, Koch said. A security officer told police he was fine and “blessed to be alive,” Koch said.

Asked if the woman was suicidal, Koch said police didn’t know.

“In our view, it doesn’t really matter,” he said. “We have an individual who was armed, and we work very diligently to try to de-escalate those situations and know that we have time on our side.”

This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 12:26 PM.