CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 33-year-old was shot and killed in southwest Charlotte late Monday, marking the third shooting on the same street this month.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police responded to a shooting at the Granite Pointe Apartments on Deep Rock Circle, near East Arrowood Road and Nations Ford Road, just after 11 p.m. Monday night. When officers arrived, they found 33-year-old Demarcus Allen, who'd been shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“All I saw was the police," Zykia Emore said. "When I got out of the car, my grandma informed me that all she knows is whoever the guy is pulled out a gun ... they got to fighting and then shots.”
The first shooting happened on Mother's Day at the fairly new apartment complex. CMPD officers found 19-year-old Maurice Paige Jr. dead after he'd been shot. Then on May 17, a 9-year-old boy and two other people were hurt in a shooting at the same apartment complex. All three victims were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive.
No arrests have been made in any of these cases, and residents feel the recent shootings have rocked the area.
“When you put a new community in an area that is a high-crime risk, you must put safeguards with it, too,” Sonya McIntyre, a concerned resident, explained. “That means high policing for a while until the community gets the transition that the community is a new community."
Residents said a police tower was added within the last week or so but it only caused the criminal activity to shift to the other side of the complex.
“It has escalated to a point where a brand new community is being taken over,” McIntyre said. “It’s going to be taken over by the police or by the bad elements."
They said they occasionally see the police patrol the area, but some feel the police need to take a more aggressive approach, or the gun violence will only rise.
"We have military," McIntyre said of who lives in the complex. "We have teachers ... retired neighbors. We have good families out here, but there is a problem because we are in the highest risk community on the south side."
McIntyre would like to see stricter screening and criminal background checks for the apartment complex and more police presence on the grounds so they can regain their community.
CMPD also responded to a deadly shooting on Deep Rock Circle in July 2021. After consulting with the District Attorney's Office, no charges were filed.
Any person with information about any of these shootings is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. Witnesses may also call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly with CMPD homicide detectives. All calls are anonymous.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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