Man turns himself in for shooting that led to lockdowns at 3 CMS schools, CMPD says

A man turned himself into police one day after officers say he shot a woman in a road rage incident, sending three Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools into early-morning lockdowns Wednesday.



Andre Malik Whitfield, 28, shot a 35-year-old woman in the leg at the intersection of Rama Road and Sheppard Court — a block away from Rama Road Elementary — at about 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. She was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, according to a police report.

While the shooting didn’t happen on school grounds, it sent Rama Road Elementary, McClintock Middle and East Mecklenburg High into early-morning lockdowns, WSOC, The Charlotte Observer’s news partner, reported. They were all lifted by 8:15 a.m., Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced.

Whitfield is charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. He was released Thursday from the Mecklenburg County Detention Center on a $25,000 bond, according to jail records.

Police did not say what caused the road rage incident.

Julia Coin

The Charlotte Observer

7042189350

Julia Coin covers courts, legal issues, police and public safety around Charlotte and is part of the Pulitzer-finalist team that covered Tropical Storm Helene in North Carolina. As the Observer’s breaking news reporter, she unveiled how fentanyl infiltrated local schools. Michigan-born and Florida-raised, she studied journalism at the University of Florida, where she covered statewide legislation, sexual assault on campus and Hurricane Ian in her hometown of Sanibel Island. Support my work with a digital subscription