OAKBORO, N.C. — Thousands of people were watching fireworks in Oakboro Wednesday when they heard gunshots. A woman, who did not want to be identified, told Channel 9 she was shooting a video of the fireworks on her phone when people started getting up from their seats.
"I grabbed my daughter and her friend's hand and took off running into the fire department," the woman said.
In the video you can hear a young child ask, “What happened? What happened?”
Oakboro Police Chief J.T. Smith said it started two blocks away on Pine Street. Ted Kluttz said he was with his family, other children and friends when two young boys walked onto his property.
"I (saw) this guy with his hands out and he fired another shot, and I (saw) the muzzle flash,” Kluttz said. “The two guys he was shooting at ran towards the highway.”
Smith said the two boys were from out of town. One of the bullets hit Kluttz's SUV before ricocheting into his neighbor's house. Another bullet went through his carport.
"Everybody in this area ran back towards the carnival and they were screaming, ‘Shots fired. Shots fired.’ That caused a panic at the carnival," said Kluttz.
Smith said Nyquarious Garner was arrested Thursday for pulling the trigger. He is facing a couple of charges, including assault with a deadly weapon.
Smith said while the shooting had nothing to do with the event and no one was seriously hurt, he still plans to do more next year to make sure people are safe. Smith said his department typically pulls in officers from surrounding counties to work at the event. He said his small department was recently given money to hire two more officers, as well as a few more part-time officers. He believes the additional resources will help make the event safer next year. He said they are talking about doing more checks throughout the neighborhoods and strengthening their event staff.
"We've done this so many times that maybe we need to revisit tighter security and tighter communication amongst carnival workers, fire department and ourselves," Smith said.
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