Afternoon violence turns west Charlotte park into crime scene

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Afternoon violence in a west Charlotte neighborhood turned a playground into a crime scene Sunday.

A man was shot Sunday afternoon in the Martin Luther King Neighborhood Park on Ravencroft Drive, officials said.

Police told Channel 9 the victim was taken to the hospital by first responders and was in serious, but stable, condition. Investigators believe the man was playing basketball when he was shot several times.

“I have a granddaughter and she plays down there most of the time, but she won't be going back,” one neighbor said.

Authorities said there was a large crowd at the scene when police arrived.

“What really rattled me was my stepson, he goes down there to play basketball,” Nathaniel Ford said. “He's 33.  When I saw the fire truck go down there I started hunting him.”

One neighbor said several other children were on their way to the park, but never made it. Others said the shooting was nothing new in the neighborhood.

“It's an isolated area for anything to happen down there,” a neighbor said.

Channel 9 checked the statistics over the last six months and found more than 700 reported crimes within a mile of the neighborhood park.

More than 200 of those calls were for disturbing the peace, along with assaults calls and theft.

“That park, it's a little problem,” Ford said.

Police have not made any arrests or know of any motive for the shooting.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.

Cox Media Group