‘A parent’s worst nightmare.’ 10-year-old Charlotte girl shot outside a car wash
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police turned to the public for help Wednesday after a weekend shooting left a 10-year-old girl hospitalized with “life-altering injuries.”
“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” Lt. Bryan Crum said at a news conference at police headquarters. “It’s difficult for me to put into words how upsetting this case really is.”
The girl, whom police identified only by her first name, Cherish, was with her mother in a crowded car wash parking lot on Sunset Road in north Charlotte on Saturday when someone shot the child and ran away, Crum said.
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Police don’t believe Cherish or her mother were the intended targets, the lieutenant said.
“Her life will be changed forever,” Crum said of Cherish.
Crum called Cherish “a loving child.”
“She cares about people,” Crum told reporters. “She enjoys making people laugh and helping them out however she can. She enjoys just being out and about with her friends and family and loving life like all little girls do.”
Cherish loves riding her bike, singing and dancing, he said.
Officers found the girl suffering from a gunshot wound when they responded to a call for an assault with a deadly weapon in the 4300 block of Sunset Road, according to a CMPD news release on Saturday. Google Maps shows Sunset Auto Spa at that location, but police declined to name the business on Wednesday.
The shooting was reported about 2:45 p.m., police said. Cherish was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and remained in critical condition Wednesday, according to CMPD.
Police believe the shooter lives in the area because he ran from the car wash, according to Crum.
CMPD urged anyone with information about the case to call the homicide unit at 704-432-8477 or leave the information anonymously on the Crime Stoppers tip line, 704-334-1600.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 2:43 PM.