High School Honors Murdered Grads At Game

Students and faculty at A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis mourned the murders of two popular former students early Friday morning.

"All day, teachers and students were crying," said sophomore Steven Jackson. "It was very emotional."

Kevin Cano, 20, and Jamie Gill, 20, were shot and killed around 12:30 a.m. Friday as they sat in a car on South Cedar Street near Johnson and Wales University in uptown Charlotte. Cano and Gill were both 2007 graduates of A.L. Brown.

Police charged Richard Jordan with the two murders after detectives said he confessed.

Sources told Channel 9 Eyewitness News that Jordan and one of the victims had been dating the same student at Johnson and Wales.

A moment of silence was held before Friday night's football game between A.L. Brown and Concord High School.

Cano was a former A.L. Brown football player.

Police said they were responding to a call about shots fired shortly after midnight Thursday when they found the bodies of Cano and Gill in a silver Chevy Impala at the intersection of North Cedar and Trade Streets.

"Center city has the lowest violent crime rate in the city, so this is very rare for this to happen," said Capt. Jeff Estes of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Two CATS buses were also hit by stray bullets, but no bus riders were hurt.

A short time later, police took Richard Jordan Jr., 29, into custody. Police said the suspect and at least one of the victims were acquaintances.

“We want to make it clear to the public and people living in the area that this is not a random act of violence,” Estes said.

According to court records, Jordan is a convicted felon who spent nearly six years in prison for assault and discharging a weapon. He was also charged with assault with a deadly weapon and robbery in 2007, but the Mecklenburg County District Attorney dismissed the case earlier this year.

Courthouse sources said the dropped charges involved witnesses who would either not cooperate or who could not make a positive identification of Jordan.