Videos show daytime shootings on Charlotte streets. ‘This is as real as it gets,’ official says
Shootings and illegal gun possession have spiked in Charlotte in recent weeks, leading police department officials on Wednesday to again ring alarms that violent crime has not taken a break.
In a rare move, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police released publicly two raw videos, captured by bystanders, showing daytime shootings. Both happened in the middle of residential areas — one in an apartment parking lot, the other on a street in north Charlotte. CMPD played the videos during a news conference hosted on Facebook Live Wednesday morning.
CMPD does not usually release video footage of gunfire that’s part of an ongoing investigation unless the department is asking for the public’s help. In this case, multiple people have already been charged. But CMPD spokesman Rob Tufano said the department is showing the videos after social media and community campaigns have failed to stem violent crime and specifically, shootings.
“We’ve tried everything. We’ve yelled it at the rooftop for years ... I can’t count how many times we’ve been here at this lectern,” he said during the news conference.
Shootings in Charlotte neighborhoods
The first video showed a shows a man opening fire with a rifle. It happened on Twin Brook Drive on April 7, Tufano said.
Police said the man fired the gun and another person returned fire. In total, there were around 60 shots and two neighboring homes and a vehicle were hit. No one was injured, according to police.
The shooting occurred when a 27-year-old woman had gone to the home to “obtain custody of her child” and following an argument, an acquaintance of the woman started firing an assault rifle, police said.
The second video shows a group of peopleoutside an apartment complex on Woodstone Drive when shooting starts and bystanders start to run away. Police said the incident was the result of an “ongoing dispute between neighbors” and a 21-year-man was shot in the leg.
“Don’t count the number of rounds,” said CMPD Deputy Chief Gerald Smith. “Count the number of people in panic.”
Tufano said between the two cases, five people were arrested, all of whom have been released on electronic monitoring.
“We can continue to throw out the stats, the data, the anecdotal stories and talk about how it may impact the community,” he said. “That’s sanitized. This is as real as it gets.”
Crime stats during coronavirus
Violent crime has largely continued despite the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders, CMPD officials said.
In the last week, there have been over 30 shootings and 11 people struck by gunfire, Smith said.
Compared to this time this year, CMPD has experienced a 30% increase in gunshot cases, seized 200 more illegal guns — around a 33% increase — and made 115 more violent crime arrests — about an 12% increase, he said.
Aggravated assaults in April this year changed little compared to April last year, according to a Charlotte Observer analysis of CMPD data. In April this year, there were 224 aggravated assaults and last year there were 235.
The pace of homicides, however, has slowed slightly compared to last year, Smith said. Charlotte has currently experienced 33 homicides this year, a slight decrease from the 44 homicides the city had experience this time last year, he said. Robberies have also decreased by 13% — 17 fewer incidents in April compared to the same period last year.
Aside from violent crime, crimes like drug and theft crimes were down in April, according to a Charlotte Observer analysis of CMPD data. Federal crime reporting standards designate homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravate assaults — which includes shootings — as violent crimes.
CMPD experienced a 6,164 incidents in April this year — a 22% decrease compared to the same time period last year.
Drug and narcotic violations — which include anything from possession to manufacturing — continued its downward trend from last month and decreased 46%. In April, there were 199 drug, compared to 366 violations in April last year.
Overall theft crimes were down 21% last April compared to the same month last year.
