Former West Charlotte High basketball player killed in triple shooting, advocate says

Friends are mourning a former West Charlotte High School basketball player they say was killed in a triple shooting just before midnight Tuesday.

Two others were hurt when gunfire erupted along a commercial strip in in the 2600 block of Beatties Ford Road in west Charlotte, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said in a news release.

Police haven’t released the names of those shot or said if they have anyone in custody. Police also haven’t said what they believe prompted the shooting beside an Interstate 85 interchange and whether those involved knew each other.

“One victim was pronounced deceased on scene,” CMPD said in the news release. “The other two victims were transported to a local hospital.”

Shootings took place during an argument inside the Xpress Mart gas station, WBTV reported.

Juanrique Hall told The Charlotte Observer he coached the man who died when the man played on the West Charlotte High championship basketball team.

Hall is a Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board candidate and outreach worker with the city’s Alternative to Violence team.

The ATV program started in August 2021 to act as credible messengers to help curb violence along a segment of Beatties Ford Road.

The young man who was fatally shot was a friend of the son of another outreach member, Hall said.

“We knew the kid,” Hall said. “I coached him in high school. Therefore, it’s bigger than a job. Now it’s personal.”

Hall, along with fellow outreach members, planned a conference Wednesday at the Shell station on Beatties Ford Road near the shooting scene.

“Anything that happens in the corridor, we go out within the next 24 to 48 hours … and let them know that if some violence happened here, let them know we won’t stand for it,” Hall said.

“ … Then we go out in the streets, find out the key players in it and talk to them and see if we can come to a resolution, and stop it before it gets worse, before anybody else gets killed,” he said.

Police urged anyone with information about the shootings to call the CMPD homicide unit at 704-432-8477 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 704-334-1600.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 5:08 AM.