Surge in Charlotte homicides brings back memories of violence during 2005, 90s

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s police chief released startling numbers Wednesday on the 46 homicides that have occurred so far in 2017.

Chief Kerr Putney said about half of the murder victims were 19 to 34 years old. He also added that 34 of the homicide victims were killed with a gun.

Putney went on to say that 34 of the victims knew their killer and that 17 of the suspects arrested have previous arrest charges. He also said that many of the homicides stem from young people choosing to pick up a gun rather than finding other ways to resolve a dispute.

[PHOTOS: Homicide victims of 2017]

Chief Putney: 34 of our City's 46 homicide victims this year were killed with a gun. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/Lfe5t33mz5
— Tina Terry (@TinaTerryWSOC9) June 21, 2017

Putney announced the statistics less than 12 hours after three people were shot and killed in Charlotte.

[PHOTOS: Suspects in 2017 homicide cases]

Officers were first called around 11 p.m. Tuesday to Eastwycke Place, where they said 29-year-old David Lindsay was found shot and killed in the front seat of an SUV.

Then, around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to Hilo Drive, where they said Jared Chatman and Sanchez McClure were shot to death at the Edge at NoDA apartments.

Wave of violence during the 90s, 2005

The surge in homicides in 2017 has shocked many people in the Charlotte community, but there was a similar wave of violence in the early 90s and another in 2005.

In 1993 alone, there were more than 120 murders.

Retired CMPD Detective Garry McFadden worked in the homicide unit during that time.

"In the 90s, you worried about going to the store at night. In the 90s, you couldn't stand at the bus stop, you couldn't walk down the street, you couldn't go to the clubs," McFadden said.

McFadden remembered the fear that many in the community felt and he wondered if Charlotte is going down that road again.

"I think people are trying to find out what is happening," McFadden said.

Putney said he's concerned about the spike in violence and also referred to the violent times in the 90s during his news conference Wednesday.

"Do I think we are drifting back to the early 90s when many of us came on? No," Putney said.

Putney said the big difference from then and now is the emergence of crack cocaine. Even though fentanyl-based heroin is a big problem now, the chief said there aren't many murders over it.

Putney said one of the things the department is going to do to fight the violent trend is use a federal grant to put more boots on the ground.

"We've done some of this work before, we're just doing it on a grander scale this year," Putney said. "We have allocated overtime, we look at our specific hot spots and we allow our officers to sign up for that overtime and work specifically in those areas to drive down crime."

Putney also said police are performing walking beats and bike patrols to help improve visibility.

Only halfway through the year, the murder rate is at nearly 50.

Willie Ratchford, who was part of the homicide task force, created in 2005, remembers that year when 85 people were killed in Charlotte, one of the deadliest years since the 1990s.

“The fact that we have 46 murders in less than six months might be some reason for some type of task force to come together,” Ratchford said.

The homicide task force members were from both the community and CMPD, and focused on finding the root cause of the city's violence and then created a plan to address it.

“The more we change, the more we stay the same,” Ratchford said.

In 2006, the homicide task force offered 13 recommendations, including educating the community on both the magnitude and severity of the city's homicide problem; targeting the area's most violent offenders; calling for a strategy to reduce the number of available guns, which remains the weapon of choice.

AT 10: Here is the list of recommendations from 2005, when 85 people were killed in #CLT. Would it help now? @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/IcJYP9u8WB
— DaShawn Brown (@DaShawnWSOC9) June 22, 2017