CMPD Creates Task Force To Address Shootings into Occupied Homes and Vehicles

CHARLOTTE, NC -Homes and cars in Charlotte are being riddled with bullets at a staggering pace. On Wednesday, CMPD announced the creation of a task force to address the issue.

“They want to kill somebody.” said a West Charlotte woman whose car was hit by gunfire last month.

Worried neighbors on Oakshire Circle in Northwest Charlotte vividly remember early July when someone fired at cars and homes.

“They hide behind our car and that’s why they shot into our car,” said the woman.

“I thought it was just crazy and wild and crazy,” said Kathy Grier.

She also lives on Oakshire Circle. She recently found a bullet hole above her garage. Her boyfriend’s car was also hit by a bullet.

“The tire was shot,” said Grier.

A home down the block from Grier took the brunt of the gunfire. The people who were living there at the time have since moved and the homeowner has patched nearly a dozen bullet holes.

“These are homes that are unintended targets at times that are catching stray bullets,” said Rob Tufano, a spokesperson with CMPD.

Tufano says so far this year, there have been more than 300 instances of people shooting into occupied homes and cars.

At least 60 rounds were fired at cars and homes on Jordans Pond Lane in Northwest Charlotte just days before the shooting on Oakshire Circle. Two people were hurt in the shooting. In another case in East Charlotte, the victim was a child.

“She winds up getting shot in the leg. we have to run out there and apply a tourniquet to save this little girls life,” said Tufano, “[she was] riding a bike in front of her own home.”

CMPD says the creation of a task force is to specifically target people who they say are contributing to the problem. The department’s biggest need is tips from neighbors.

“We have to have the cooperation of the community.and that takes the form of information,” said Sgt. Steve Fishback with CMPD.

As an incentive, crime stoppers is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

“Maybe somebody will come forward,” said Grier, “money makes people talk.”