‘Jarring and incomprehensible’: CMPD releases video of gunmen at Beatties Ford shooting
The video starts with music and sirens, then 40 seconds of nearly continuous gunfire follow. The dramatic video shows over a dozen people running away as two men spray bullets into the direction the people are running from.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police on Friday said they need the public’s help identifying the two gunmen who opened fire on Beatties Ford Road during a Juneteenth celebration that left four people dead.
“It’s a miracle we came out and with what we did and it wasn’t more traumatic than what’s occurred ... when you see the total disregard and recklessness for human life,” CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings said during a press conference.
CMPD once again asked the community for information surrounding a shooting that occurred in the early morning hours of June 22. Nearly five months later, police still have not made an arrest in the shooting that occurred in front of nearly 400 people.
CMPD released a surveillance video Friday that shows a section of a parking lot with a black SUV with a few people around it. Music is heard playing and the video shows several people immediately running away when gunshots ring out.
Two men — one carrying what appears to be an automatic or semi-automatic rifle and another carrying a handgun — get out of the SUV and crouch by the driver’s side. One person shoots the rifle gun and the other person shoots the pistol into the air. They jump into the vehicle and start shooting again.
A CMPD spokesman called the violence in the video “flat out jarring and incomprehensible.”
“We need to speak to these individuals,” said CMPD Lt. Bryan Crum, who supervises the violent crime unit. “There’s no pending charges at this point. We don’t even know if their gunfire struck anyone.”
The reward money for information that leads to an arrest has increased to $22,000, police said Friday.
Bystanders have said that hundreds of people were gathered for an informal celebration during Juneteenth weekend. Prior to the shooting, the gathering — which occurred between LaSalle Street and Dr. Webber Avenue — had been peaceful.
But shortly after midnight, an ambulance was called after a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle on Beatties Ford, according to CMPD in June. Bystander videos on social media showed an ambulance rolling slowly toward an intersection just as gunfire is heard in the background.
Crum said while detectives are still working on some leads in case, police need help identifying the people in the video.
“Unfortunately, we have gotten to a point where we need to ask the community for help,” he said. “Our leads have run out.”
Police say they have spent “thousands of hours” on canvassing and evidence collection and analysis. Using a national ballistics database to look at over 180 shell casings that were found at the scene, police have been able to deduce that there were at least 10 guns that were linked to the shootings.
Police said they have recovered some of those guns and do not suspect any gang involvement.
The victims were identified as 28-year-old Christopher “CJ” Gleaton, 31-year-old Dairyon Dejean Stevenson, 29-year-old Kelly Miller and 39-year-old Jamaa Keon Cassell. At least 10 other people were injured either by bullets or cars at the scene.
Police encourage anyone with information on the shooting to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
