Two teenagers were arrested this week in a series of apparently random drive-by shootings that left one man dead and two others injured, police in Charlotte, North Carolina, said Thursday.
The five shootings that took place between 1:00 and 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, appeared to be related as shots were fired at random from a vehicle at other vehicles or cyclists, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Deputy Police Chief Tonya Arrington said this during a press conference on Tuesday.
On Thursday, officers patrolling the scene of the shooting spotted a suspicious vehicle with a 16-year-old boy inside with a stolen weapon.
He was arrested after questioning and an 18-year-old man was arrested later Thursday, police said. No other suspects are at large.
“I’ll be honest with you, it was good old-fashioned police work. Our officers were in the right places at the right time and knew what to look for,” Arrington said. “It’s just one of those gut feelings you get sometimes as a cop.”
The younger suspect had plans to continue shooting people, Arrington said, but he did not elaborate.
“We have reason to believe that the 16-year-old minor intended to continue his violent crime spree,” she said. “Thanks to the tremendous work of our officers and detectives, they were able to prevent further harm to innocent victims.”
The juvenile suspect has not been identified by police. He is charged with first-degree murder and has been transferred to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, police said.
The 18-year-old was identified as Carlos Roberto Diaz. He faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, five counts of attempted murder, two counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle, two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, police said.
It was still unclear on Thursday afternoon whether Diaz had hired a lawyer.
Officials were still investigating how many weapons were used in the shooting. Police did not specify which suspect was driving.
The first shooting in the violent uproar occurred around 1 a.m. Mustaffa Muhammad, 58, was fatally shot while driving a vehicle northbound on Statesville Avenue, police said.
Minutes later, police arrived at the intersection of Lasalle Street and Newland Road, where a cyclist was shot but not injured, police said.
Shortly afterward, officers reported that a vehicle was struck by gunfire while driving on Lasalle Street, near Interstate 77. And then a group told police they were being shot at in the 2100 block of Catherine Simmons Drive. Officers found a female victim who was inside a nearby home when she was struck by gunfire, police said.
The next shooting took place in the Steel Creek area, where a bicyclist was shot and wounded in the 100 block of Hillary Circle, police said. While searching the area, officers found a home that had been hit by gunfire.
Arrington said police have forensic evidence linking three shootings to the crime spree.
She said investigators do not believe there are gang ties to the shooting and the motive remains unclear.
“We’re still asking the same questions, why would two minors engage in this type of behavior with random victims?” she said. “You know, it’s one thing when we have a shooting between two, maybe rival gangs, neighborhood gangs, feuds. But this is … just completely out of the ordinary.”