Police charge two suspects in CMPD officer shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police said a man wanted for robbing five stores in six hours last week is the same person who shot an off-duty Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer Sunday night.

Police have been quiet about the case, declining to talk to Eyewitness News on camera about their investigation or about whether the man they arrested knew the victim, but Eyewitness News learned more about the suspect on Monday -- a teenager who has been in plenty of trouble before.

The Emerald Bay Apartments has seen its share of violence over the years, but the shooting is still a shock for residents like Rafael Hernandez.

Off-duty CMPD officer John Dunham had moved there recently and was with his 11-year-old son inside his apartment around 6 a.m. Sunday morning when Kevin McClary burst in, tried to rob him and then shot him in the shoulder before running away, police said.

Eyewitness News showed McClary's photo to Adrien Dixon, another resident, who recognized him immediately as someone who frequently hangs out at Emerald Bay.

"I knew when I saw him, the first time I ever laid eyes on him, I knew something was wrong with him," said Dixon.

But McClary's arrest in Sunday's shooting is hardly his first run-in with the law.

Back in 2010, when McClary was just 16, he was arrested for robbing a convenience store on Mount Holly Road.

Like the attack of Dunham, it happened at about 6 a.m. in the morning.

The employee who was robbed did not want to appear on camera but told Eyewitness News McClary seemed, in her words, desperate and that he told her the robbery was something he had to do.

McClary served nine months in prison for that robbery, served eight more months for another the next year, and was arrested in June of this year for a car break-in.

Dixon said McClary was well-known for his criminal history and dangerous reputation.

"He is always knocking, kicking down people's doors. Always out here. We call it hitting licks, basically kicking people's doors down, taking people's stuff and then running away from it thinking no one is going to catch him," said Dixon.

Police confirm that Dunham lived at Emerald Bay at a reduced rate in exchange for his police presence.

Eyewitness News learned on Monday that he has been released from a hospital.

WSOC