Local

Police: Man shot in stomach during apparent drive-by shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — By the time her cellphone rang, Mia Brewer had already heard the news someone had been shot outside a north Charlotte convenience store.

It just never occurred to her that it could have been her son.
         
"It's a call that no parent wants to get," she said Friday afternoon.
         
Police say 23-year-old Robert Brewer was shot in the stomach as he was walking outside the Raceway station on West Sugar Creek Road at 4:30 a.m. Friday.
         
The person who allegedly shot him was in a gold sedan, police said.

Surveillance video shows the suspect's car, but police said it is not clear enough to help them identify the car.
         
Mia Brewer said all of that fits with what her son told her.
         
"According to him he didn't see the car coming, like I said, very vague," she said.
         
And she doesn't have any illusions. She said her son has been in trouble before and she worries that living on life's jagged edge puts him at risk.
         
Police said violent crime is down along the Sugar Creek corridor, but Friday morning's shooting suggests that it is still dangerous, especially after dark. Mia Brewer worries that her son may not get another chance.
         
"I'm hoping this will be a wake-up call. In my way of thinking, a baseball game only has three strikes," she said.