3 of 4 teen suspects arrested in fatal shooting of Hickory father of 5, police say
Three of the four teenage suspects accused of murdering a 35-year-old father in Hickory are now in custody, according to police
Shonniel Blackburn was shot and killed Monday afternoon at the Blue Ridge Heights apartments along South Center Street, near Highway 70. Family members say the father of five was about to go pick up his children.
Wednesday morning, WSOC confirmed three 16-year-olds were arrested and charged with Blackburn’s murder. Police are still searching for a 15-year-old suspect. Investigators said because of their ages, they cannot share the identities of the suspects.
On Monday, a WSOC reporter could see cameras across the street from where the father of five was shot and killed. Witnesses told WSOC as many as a dozen shots were fired.
Pinky Sims showed the reporter where her brother was shot and killed. She said Blackburn had just stepped out of an apartment when someone opened fire.
“My heart fell,” Sims said. “My heart dropped.”
Her sister, Evelyn McRae, showed WSOC photos of the 35-year-old.
The murder comes less than two weeks after another deadly daytime shooting happened two blocks away. In that incident, a teenager was killed.
“I wish they would put the guns down and stop this violence,” Sims said. “It don’t make no sense. What happened putting hands up in the day when they would just fight.”
“He was a good father to his kids,” McRae said. “And he was getting ready to go get his kids and then they did this to him.”
Police in Hickory said violent crime is on the rise across the country.
A WSOC reporter spotted both the police chief and the sheriff in Catawba County at the shooting Monday afternoon. Police spent hours collecting evidence but are hoping eyewitnesses also come forward in the case.
Family members said Blackburn was the second person in their family who has been killed in a shooting.
“This is the second brother that we got killed to gun violence,” McRae said. “Something has got to give.”
WSOC is waiting to see if police release any surveillance images from the cameras there.
Anyone with knowledge of the case or the suspect’s whereabouts is asked to call the Hickory Police Department at 828-328-5551, or contact Investigator C. Laffon at claffon@hickorync.gov.
WSOC is a news partner of The Charlotte Observer.
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 5:54 PM with the headline "3 of 4 teen suspects arrested in fatal shooting of Hickory father of 5, police say."