Families on edge after alarming nights of gunfire in south Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hundreds of families said they are on edge after alarming nights of gunfire in south Charlotte.

Families said the quiet, gated Park South Station neighborhood was rattled by gunfire two nights this week.

Officers said five shell casings were found on Archdale Drive outside the community.

“It was like, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap,” said resident Joyce Regan.

Resident Adam Lindsey said, “It sounded like a loud banging or rattling.”

Helen Lunde said, "It was a bunch of rounds and then it stopped.”

The shell casings were found behind Lunde’s home, police said.

“It was kind of scary once I heard where they found the stuff. It’s literally in my backyard. After that, it was frightening,” said Lunde.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said that after multiple families in the Park South Station neighborhood heard gunfire -- possibly by an assault rifle -- twice this week,officers searched for the shooter but they didn’t find any victims or any property that had been hit.

“It’s still hard to figure out why this happened," said Lunde.

Lindsey told Channel 9, “It doesn't make you feel good. It doesn’t make me or my wife feel comfortable so we wanted to make sure that anything that could be done was being done.”

Capt. Melanie Peacock said she’s covering those concerns.

“We’ve stepped up patrols, particularly on the night shifts. We have some of our Crime Reduction Unit folks working diligently in the neighborhood to be seen and make sure we don’t have any priority offenders to focus on,” she said.

Investigators said they are also taking a deeper look at crime data while they analyze the shell casings from the shooting and try to bring in a watchtower for the area.

“Hopefully they can slow things down so this doesn’t happen again,” said Lunde.

Channel 9 created a crime map of the neighborhood and found just one violent crime in the past three months.

That case drew media attention because a couple was viciously attacked with a metal baseball bat while they were walking near their home.

Officers ended up charging a 15-year-old in that crime.

Cox Media Group