Pandemic not deterring crime: CMPD responds to dozens of recent shootings

CHARLOTTE — While everyone has been focused on the threat posed by the coronavirus, police said Wednesday that there is another threat on the streets of Charlotte -- gun violence that is raging out of control.

Police have responded to at least 30 shootings across Charlotte in the last few days -- three of them on Tuesday alone.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police spoke to Channel 9 Wednesday morning, saying that while COVID-19 has in many ways changed the way people live, it has not stopped violent crime.

In fact, CMPD has seen shootings, in particular, spike. In the past few weeks there have been 30 shootings leaving 11 people hurt.

One shooting, which happened on April 8 on Twin Brook Drive in north Charlotte, saw a man fire a semi-automatic rifle during what police said was a domestic dispute. At least 60 shots were fired.

In another case, from May 1 at an apartment complex, police responded to a shootout. CMPD Deputy Chief Gerald Smith said that incident was especially disturbing because of the terror felt by those who lived nearby.

“If you stop and don’t count the number of bullets and the number of rounds that are fired out there, but listen to the panic in the residents’ voices out there, hopefully, that will energize people when we ask for help,” he said.

Police say Charlotte has averaged nine violent crimes a day in 2020 -- that includes seven assaults involving guns and two armed robberies where guns were used.

On Tuesday, police said there were at least three separate shootings, including one where a 16-year-old was shot, and three teenagers were arrested.

Driver speeds away from shooting scene, hits pedestrian, leads police on chase Driver speeds away from shooting scene, hits pedestrian, leads police on chase

Community leaders, like Garcia Nelson with the Genesis Project, are looking for answers too.

“Looking at the 30 shootings in a week, 11 individuals, there's trouble in the homes,” he said.

Nelson and some other leaders told Channel 9 they're not surprised by the spike in violence because the pandemic has upset the fragile balance in the home and in the community, and shut down vital lifelines like barbershops, where many, particularly teenagers, can turn for support.

“When they get in the chair, they become the counselor, they become the teacher. Some of them have become the parents, to say put that gun down. Active gang members that trust the barber because they can relate to them,” Nelson said.

Those leaders said unless we can find ways to reach those who are disconnected by this new reality, it could be a violent and troubling summer ahead.

Police were busy investigating two more shootings early Thursday. Officers were called to Woodstone Drive in north Charlotte after a woman was shot. She is expected to be OK, police said. Investigators said several homes and vehicles were shot into but nobody else was hurt.

Also overnight, police were called to a shooting on North Tryon Street in University City. Officers found a man who had been shot and said an argument between the victim and shooter led to the gunfire.

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