Teenager shot, killed in east Charlotte; suspects in custody after brief standoff

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A brief standoff with SWAT teams ended with people taken into custody Saturday afternoon following Charlotte's 20th homicide.

Officers were called to Perth Court just after 12:30 p.m., and found 19-year-old Gavino Miguel Romero dead from gunshot wounds.

[IMAGES: Homicide investigation on Perth Court]

Police said three men were sitting inside a car when suspects walked up to that car and started shooting at them.

Two of those men weren't seriously hurt, but the driver was shot and killed.

“And his car was like in the gap, like he was trying to speed off and get away, but they got him before he could get out,” neighbor Cheyenne Bluford said.

Police said the suspects ran off to Lanecrest Drive, in a nearby neighborhood, where K-9s tracked them down and witnesses confirmed they ran into a house.

Negotiators tried talking them out as multiple officers crouched with guns in hand.

There were at least five people inside the house, including an infant.

None of them were injured as the alleged suspects surrendered.

Neighbors were disappointed to hear violent activity happened in their neighborhood once again.

“It's crazy like how can you deal with this on a normal basis,” Bluford said. “Some people are comfortable with it, and this is like the second murder I've seen in a month.”

Investigators said they still don't know why the shooting occurred.

Neighbors said the shooting didn’t have to happen.

“It doesn't have to be like this,” a neighbor said. “It doesn’t, because every day on the news, you hear somebody getting shot, stabbed killed, and it’s just a hurtful feeling.”

Cox Media Group