18-year-old shoots himself after robbing convenience store, CMPD says

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police said an 18-year-old man shot himself after robbing a University City convenience store overnight.

Officers told Channel 9 the robbery happened around 2:15 a.m. at the Kangaroo Express on North Tryon Street.

The teen, identified as Lavarius Patterson, pulled out a gun and robbed the store, police said.

The store clerk who called 911 said the man robbed the business but then accidentally shot himself.

The clerk told investigators that the man ran out of the store. A witness told police they heard a gunshot come from the direction in which the suspect ran and then saw him limping away from the area.

Patterson went to the hospital claiming he was the victim of a robbery and shooting, but police said he still had the bag of money stolen from this store with him.

Patterson is out of the hospital and in the jail charged with a crime that many customers call hilarious justice.

"I laughed. I thought that was kind of comical. It was almost farcical,” Michael Mayfield said.

Patterson had the money put into a bag with what appeared to be a flower print on it. It was captured on security cameras around and inside the store.

As Patterson, who was wearing a mask, walked out of the store he shot himself in the leg while putting his gun away, police said.

Patterson staggered across the parking lot moving like a half-dead creature from a movie, according to witnesses.

He headed toward Mallard Creek Church Road.

"It actually makes you think like there is some sort of higher power that did it," Robert Federle said.

Police were called a couple of hours later by officials at Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy who said a man came to the emergency room with a gunshot wound to the leg. Their description matched that of Patterson.

“It saddens me, you know,” Keysha Kendrick said. “You can't even walk out the door this day and time and know what's going to happen. You just have to always watch your back."

Patterson is charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Officers have not yet released surveillance video of the robbery.

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