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CMPD Chief: 'Gang-like behavior' behind weekend violence

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said "gang-like behavior" is to blame for a violent Labor Day weekend that left 12 people shot and five of them killed, including a 7-year-old boy, in multiple shootings.

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Putney laid it on the line Tuesday afternoon, saying police need help in untangling the web of gang-like violence between two groups that left five people dead, eight others wounded and still no one talking.

"Right now, we think it was retaliation for some previous issues going on between these groups and we think that the innocent kid was mistakenly caught in the crossfire," Putney said.

Kevin Rodas, 7, was attending a friend's birthday party Saturday night on Fieldvale Drive when he was killed.

According to a police search warrant, a witness attending the party saw two black males in a driveway across the street when the shooting started, and later saw those two and a third person run into nearby woods.

Putney would not say how that shooting was related to the others, or what argument may have sparked the weekend violence, but after days of working around the clock with no arrests, it has struck a nerve.

“Just stupid stuff, actually, and it's frustrating because no argument should end the way these have been ending,” Putney said. “We're adamantly and passionately asking the public to assist us in bringing these suspects to justice and closure to the families.”

  • PRESS PLAY -- Homicide detectives working to solve string of weekend slayings:

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Police have doubled the Crimestoppers reward to $10,000 for information in the shootings.

The Million Youth March of Charlotte and Mothers of Murdered Offspring will host a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Marshall Park.

  • INTERACTIVE MAP: 12 people shot and five killed over Labor Day weekend

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CMPD said the groups are not named gangs like the Bloods or MS-13. Most gangs are small and relatively unknown, said Shannon Reid, a criminal justice assistant professor at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

“The majority of gangs are sort of small neighborhood-based groups where their name comes from where they live, their streets, sort of their local identity,” Reid said.

Those small gangs can strike fear in the neighborhoods they operate in but there is no reason to believe the feud will lead to a repeat of last weekend, Reid said.

“Crime trends say that is probably not true, that this is sort of an outburst and that things should sort of calm back down on its own,” Reid said.

CMPD Deputy Chief Jeff Estes held a news conference Sunday morning about the violence of the past 24 hours in Charlotte.

Estes said it had been a trying weekend for his officers and the Charlotte community. At the time, 11 people were shot. A twelfth person was shot late Monday night.

Before that, the latest shooting happened Sunday night on Effingham Road in west Charlotte, police said. In that case, a man was shot and suffered potentially life-threatening injuries.

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Estes said high-powered assault rifles were used in one or more of the shootings.

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In the Steele Creek neighborhood where Rodas was shot and killed while at a birthday party, shots rang out just a block away hours later and another woman died.

Police said they need the community to come forward and share any information they may have about any of these shootings.

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Despite it being a holiday weekend, extra officers are coming into work. That includes the gang unit as well.

Estes said  it's unclear yet if any of the victims were actually intended targets.

  • CLICK PLAY: CMPD discusses recent weekend violence

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He said the violence is an imminent threat to the public and everyone in the community should be concerned.

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker spoke with Channel 9 about the strategy behind CMPD’s response.

The department immediately brought in special units to investigate gangs and firearms putting an extra emphasis on getting high-capacity, high-powered rifles off the streets.

“Tempers tend to flare, the guns are available, the criminals are on the street and that's a volatile cocktail,” Swecker said.

Part of the problem is that fewer gun offenders are going to jail and when they do, it’s not for long, he said.

“These are repeat offenders over and over again. Somehow they get out and get their hands on guns again,” Swecker said.

Channel 9 crime-mapped the southwest Charlotte neighborhood where Rodas was killed and a block away 30-year-old Laquanta Young was shot and killed. In the past six months, there have been seven burglaries and about a dozen aggravated assault calls.

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