Four people were killed in separate shootings over the weekend in Charlotte, adding to a homicide count on pace to surpass last year’s 107 killings.
The escalating homicide rate is expected to be on city council’s agenda tonight as officials look for ways to “disrupt” the violence, especially along four low-income corridors that account for a disproportionate number of the city’s killings.
Charlotte’s most recent homicide was reported just before 2 a.m. Monday in the 3400 block of Griffith Street, between Interstate 77 and S. Tryon Street. The victim, later identified as 16-year-old Vontairius Doster, was fatally wounded at the Southside Homes Apartment complex and died later at a hospital.
The police also were called to investigate two shootings on Sunday.
- Shortly after 6 p.m. officers were sent to the 10000 block of Margie Ann Drive, near UNC Charlotte, after a car struck a tree in a parking lot at Robinsdale Apartments. Inside the car they found a male with a gunshot wound. MEDIC pronounced him dead at the scene.
- Shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday, officers responding to a call for service found a man with a gunshot wound in the front yard of a residence in the 4000 block of Cushman Street, near Interstate 85 and W. Sugar Creek Road. The victim was taken to a hospital where he died. CMPD reported that the man had run to the home after he was shot at a nearby intersection.
On Saturday, a man was found fatally wounded inside a car at a BP gas station in the 5700 block of East W.T. Harris Boulevard. The incident was reported at 9:37 p.m. The victim was later identified as Allen Nugene Smith, 52.
As of early Monday, CMPD had not announced an arrest in any of the shootings.
With the homicide rate in Charlotte climbing, City Manager Marcus Jones last week outlined a plan to address violent crime in four of the city’s “hot spots.”
Under one part of the pilot program, set to launch this fall, victims of violence would be identified in hospitals and offered “assessment, counseling and social support in order to reduce recidivism.”
Under a second part of the program, outreach workers would focus on people at high risk of becoming involved with, or victims of, violent crime. They would then be offered services such as conflict mediation, case management and mentoring.
The four zones identified for their high homicide rates are: Beatties Ford Road and Lasalle Street, Central Avenue and North Sharon Amity Road, Nations Ford and Arrowood roads, and Interstate 85 and Sugar Creek Road.
Anyone with information about homicides in Charlotte is asked to call 704-432-TIPS to speak with a detective, or residents may leave tips anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or by going online at http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/.
We are quickly eroding the goodwill of the Black lives matter movement with these senseless killings throughout the Black community.