Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said someone shot an innocent bystander at a west Charlotte gas station.

They said the 24-year-old pulled up to a Shell in the 2700 block of Freedom Drive around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.  Someone started shooting and one bullet hit the victim in the neck. 

Police are withholding the victim’s name, but his father told Eyewitness News on Saturday that he pulled up to the gas station to buy a soda.  Police said around the same time two men got into a heated argument near the parking lot and gunshots were fired. 

Some people who live in the area were furious.

“It's just awful, you can't even go out of your house and go to the store and feel comfortable,” one said.

Eyewitness News checked and found there have been 12 reported incidents within a thousand feet of the gas station since the start of the year, but none of the incidents were as violent as this.

The victim’s father said his son is a veteran and a student.  He said he was released from the hospital Saturday, but the bullet was still lodged in his neck.  Police said the men involved left in an older model silver Chevy Caprice with large rims.