Police identify man killed in west Charlotte drive-by shooting

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By Joe Bruno and Brittney Johnson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police have identified the man they said was killed in a drive-by shooting Tuesday night in west Charlotte.

The death of 29-year-old Laymon Moore marks Charlotte’s 22nd homicide of 2017.

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(Moore)

Moore was walking on Catherine Simmons Avenue across from the Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Park around 8 p.m. when a vehicle pulled up beside him, police said.

[IMAGES: Scene from Charlotte's 22nd homicide of 2017]

Investigators told Channel 9 that Moore got into a fight with some people in a car, and that someone in the car shot him, and then sped off.

Moore's mother had to be physically restrained at the scene as she screamed, "Who shot my son?" and “I am going to get you.”

Police also said there were children nearby, but none of them were hurt.

No arrests have been made and detectives have not yet released a suspect or vehicle description.

On Wednesday, police broke down the numbers, and said that eight of the 22 homicides in 2017 started with minor conflicts.

Chief Kerr Putney is concerned about this trend, saying communities need to focus on helping people build stronger conflict-resolution skills.

“When you see what drives the homicides, it's minor conflicts,” Putney said, “I’m mad at you for some reason.”

Putney said the police department is working to get guns off the street, focusing on repeat offenders – specifically people showing a pattern of escalating violence.

He said the community at large is not at risk, but more and more minorities are.

Channel 9 also learned that CMPD has made arrests in 15 of the 22 homicide cases. While that is an improvement, Putney said he's not focused on the clearance rate, but rather on finding closure for the families, and preventing more violence.

“Every family, all 22 families, have been changed indefinitely in the work of diversion,” the chief said. “What we are trying to do is be proactive so we can keep down the road this level of and lack of conflict resolution that leads to violence.”

Police said that, of the homicide victims, 16 were African-American, three were white and three were latino, and the majority of the crimes involved guns.

Putney is encouraging people to take advantage of youth diversion programs in the community.

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