CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and SWAT swarmed a southwest Charlotte neighborhood Wednesday.
Chopper 9 Skyzoom got to the neighborhood off South Tryon Street at about 11:30 a.m. Several officers wearing tactical gear carrying rifles were dispatched. Tactical vehicles were also called to a home on Duval Drive.
[ MEDIC: Child shot, killed in southwest Charlotte ]
Police and SWAT were at the scene for hours. Authorities announced commands over the loud speaker for whoever was inside the home to come out.
Meanwhile, officers warned neighbors to stay inside.
Channel 9 spotted at least four people who were taken into custody at one point. Police haven’t said if any of those people were arrested or charged.
The scene is about a 10-minute drive from where a four-year-old boy was shot and killed on Cigar Court near Moss Road. We are asking if they are connected.
Channel 9’s Glenn Counts spoke to a neighbor who lives next to the 4-year-old who was killed.
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“I heard about five or six rounds go off, they sounded like they were very, very close,” said Brandon Flowers. “For that voice to be silenced forever, it’s just heartbreaking.”
Sources told Counts that police were able to track the suspects to the neighborhood off of Rivergate Parkway.
One neighbor was taking his kids to school when he saw part of a pursuit.
“I saw two of the suspects running right by our house into the woods, and just a whole fleet of police pulled up from everywhere,” that neighbor said.
One of the people who got caught up in the police action was James Robinson, who lives in a house that was searched.
“I woke up, came straight outside and the police had guns on me,” Robinson said.
That happened around noon, and Robinson says he was questioned for hours before being released.
“I just ain’t wanna get shot, really, a Black man with dreds walking out the house,” he said.
The whole neighborhood was on lockdown for hours as the SWAT team was called in. Most residents were thinking about that family who suffered a terrible loss.
“I hurt for the family,” one neighbor said. “When you hear about an infant getting hurt, it makes you want to get that suspect and put him in jail forever.”
Neighbors tell us the loss is especially painful because the four-year-old moved with his brother to live with his grandmother because their mother died from cancer.
“I’m ready to cry, but it’s just senseless over a car, over a car,” a neighbor said.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department sent an alert to say there was police activity in the 1600 block of Duval Drive and for people to stay away.
Police haven’t released any information about the people we saw in custody at one point.
Investigators did tell Channel 9 that the victims in the home that was shot into are completely innocent and aren’t connected to the stolen car in any way.
This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com and watch Eyewitness News for updates.