3 homicides in 2 weeks in uptown Charlotte match year total so far
Over the past two weeks, there have been three homicides and a shooting that injured four people in uptown Charlotte.
Much remains unknown about what led up to the violence. There’s been no indication the incidents are related.
Before these shootings and a stabbing, there were three homicides in the uptown area for the first eight months of 2023.
That number doubled in the month of September.
Overall, violent crime in the city has decreased nearly 8% compared to this time last year, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s mid-year crime statistics.
Despite the drop, CMPD has investigated roughly 100 cases of alleged violent crimes uptown so far this year, a Charlotte Observer data analysis found.
Those include: 60 cases of aggravated assault, 22 robberies, 15 rapes or sexual assaults and three murders, according to the most recent publicly-available data through August 9.
4 people shot on North Tryon
The most recent high-profile shooting happened overnight Monday just before 2:30 a.m.
Later that morning, some uptown workers encountered a partially closed North Tryon Street during the early-bird commute to work.
CMPD says a verbal altercation between two parties led to the shooting that left four people injured.
Police responded to a shooting in the heart of an entertainment area on North Tryon Street near several restaurants and a hotel, close to West Fifth Street.
Officers did not find any victims at the scene, but noted multiple shell casings in the road, CMPD officials said in a news release.
Shortly after officers arrived at the scene of the shooting, CMPD was notified of two vehicles carrying four gunshot victims arriving at a nearby hospital.
Two of these victims have since been released, the other two remained in the hospital in stable condition as of Monday afternoon, CMPD said.
CMPD detectives interviewed those involved in the shooting and at this time no arrests have been made, according to police.
2 homicides in uptown same day
Kenneth McKinnon, 56, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the afternoon of Sept. 12, according to police. He died in the 7000 block of West Ninth Street, a dead-end street near Elmwood and Pinewood cemeteries.
Two days later, CMPD arrested Demarques Arnez Carter, 27, for the shooting. He’s charged with first degree murder and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, according to CMPD.
Police say the connection between the suspect and McKinnon is being investigated.
At 11:30 p.m. the same day McKinnon was shot, Medic responded to a fatal stabbing roughly a mile away.
No additional information about the stabbing has been released.
Authorities have not indicated the two homicides are related.
Security guard shooting in uptown Charlotte
Shortly after midnight Sept. 8, two Allied Security officers responded to calls about a man who was urinating on the walls of the loading dock area in the 300 block of E. 4th Street.
This man, 24 year-old Kashaune LaVonne Teal Jr., was shot and killed by one of the security guards. The names of the two guards have not been released.
“The preliminary investigation indicates a struggle ensued when the security officer attempted to detain the subject,” CMPD officials said in a news release. “During the struggle, the subject drew a firearm and pointed it directly at a sworn company police officer. The officer was able to push the gun away before the subject discharged the firearm.”
The security guards are employed by Queen City Quarter, formerly known as the EpiCentre.
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office will review the case and determine whether the shooting was justified.
Gavin Off contributed.
