Businesses, customers outside uptown cautious after recent violent crimes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Business owners said they are worried that crime is getting worse on North Tryon Street, just outside of uptown Charlotte, after a homicide, a shooting and stabbing in the last week.

"Last year, I would have said, ‘I was surprised,’” tax consultant Linda Abraham said. “But this year, it's almost expected."

For seven years, Abraham has owned a tax preparation business in the strip mall in the area where the homicide occurred.

"I don't want to walk around with weapons and that type of thing, so it makes it scary,” she said. “The police do come but it’s a continuous thing."

Area merchants and business owners are trying to earn a living.

"It's kind of bad for business because people don’t want people hanging around like that," Studio 3 Salon hairdresser Kellie Talley-Mason said.

The Charlotte Area Fund is located in the area and its mission is to prevent homelessness.

"We have had potential clients tell us they really are afraid to come here, themselves," operations director Pam Henson said.

Students at the aerial dance studio, ArealCLT, said the crimes are not stopping them from going to class but they are going to be careful "I think it reminds me to be aware of my surroundings," student Hannah Paynter said.

Police have not announced any arrests in the recent crimes.

Cox Media Group