CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CMPD have made an arrest after witnessing a suspect shooting into an occupied vehicle with two adults and two minors Monday evening.
The incident happened a little after 5 p.m. on East WT Harris Boulevard when an off-duty CMPD police officer was operating an unmarked police vehicle and saw the shooting. The two children were two and five years old.
The occupants in the car were uninjured, police say. During the shooting, the front windshield of the officer’s unmarked police vehicle was also struck by gunfire. The officer is not believed to have been the intended target and was uninjured.
After an initial investigation it is indicated that the incident started from an ongoing dispute between the suspect, who has been identified as 21-year-old Orlando Mickens Jr., and an occupant of the car that was targeted, police say.
Mickens was quickly located and arrested without incident. As a result of this arrest, officers located a rifle and pistol.
According to a news release, after Mickens was interviewed he was transferred to the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and charged with five counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property.
The investigation into this case is active and ongoing.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 9-1-1. The public can also leave information anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/.
