MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Mooresville Police say they’re frustrated with gang members being let back onto the streets, all because the courts won’t take the case.
It happened after a shooting Friday night on Lark Glen Drive, south of Highway 150.
On Tuesday, the Mooresville police chief told Channel 9’s Dave Faherty he’s frustrated the kids were just let go.
We found out that the police department got seven phone calls from folks at the apartment complex about the gunfire. The chief says they identified a teenage suspect but juvenile justice wouldn’t take the case.
Mooresville Police Chief Ron Campurciani showed us the violent crime cases in Mooresville involving juveniles over the last two years, who he says were later released by the Division of Juvenile Justice.
The most recent happened at Meadowlark Glen, where officers recovered nineteen spent shell casings in the parking lot. Police say surveillance video led them to a teenage suspect’s apartment, where they recovered three firearms.
But the chief says juvenile justice would not issue a secure custody order for the teen.
The Division of Juvenile Justice is part of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. It says its focus is on “strengthening families, promoting delinquency prevention, supporting core social institutions, and intervening immediately and effectively when delinquent behavior occurs.”
“According to them, it didn’t meet their criteria. Well, if 19 shots in an area like this does not rise to their criteria, I would like to know what their criteria is,” said Mooresville Police Chief Ron Campurciani.
Police believe the shooting was gang-related. Officers say residents hid inside their apartments or took cover in the parking lot. That includes Patricia Turek, who called for help.
“Actually was gonna talk to the office about not feeling safe here anymore. You know, you want to feel safe,” said Patricia Turek.
Just down the street, another mother and son also heard the gunfire. She wishes more could be done to keep residents safe.
“Bullets flying everywhere. You just have to hide and not come out ... [we’re] afraid to come out,” said Annette Still.
The police chief says he’s been unable to get an answer to why the 17-year-old was allowed to return to the same apartment where they seized the firearms.
“They work for the public … they work for all of us and for some reason, they don’t feel like they have to answer these questions. It’s outrageous,” said Campurciani.
Officials with the Division of Juvenile Justice said they couldn’t talk about specific cases but did say when making a decision, they consider potential risks to public, the needs of the juvenile and their risk of re-offending.
They also said just because a teen is not taken into custody, that does not mean they will not be held accountable.
The Juvenile Justice court has other options, including diversion programs and electronic monitoring.
Full response from Juvenile Justice:
“The confidentiality of juvenile matters per North Carolina statute curtails the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the N.C. Department of Public Safety from providing any information about an individual juvenile (see G.S. 7B-3000, 3001, 3100). However, when making decisions related to secure custody, staff with the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention take very seriously any information addressing whether a juvenile presents a danger to public safety and respond accordingly. DJJDP’s role is to consider potential risks to public safety, the individualized needs of the juvenile and their risk of re-offending when making decisions about how to best address delinquency. Secure custody orders are granted by district court judges. The authority for screening secure custody requests is delegated to the juvenile court counselor’s office by N.C. General Statute § 7B-1902.
“Juvenile court counselors make an informed decision regarding secure custody orders based upon the information received from law enforcement at the time of contact. If additional information is provided during the investigation process, secure custody decisions may be revisited. Denials of secure custody requests can occur for various reasons, such as the charge not meeting the statutory requirements for secure custody, the seriousness of the charged offense not warranting secure custody, alternatives to detention being deemed more appropriate or the charging elements not being sufficiently met.
“A common misconception about the juvenile justice system is that just because a juvenile is not immediately brought into secure custody the youth was not/will not be held accountable. This could not be further from the truth. Upon being adjudicated for the offense for which they have been accused, the court has a wide range of options to consider for disposition including detention, crisis and assessment residential services, emergent mental health services, electronic monitoring or a whole host of other services across the state that address delinquent and undisciplined behaviors. Those services include supervision and diversion services with specific criteria that must be met such as school attendance, curfew, letters to victims, and specific community programming to address identified needs.”
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