Chief: Crowd of 300, mostly teens, was at Anson Co. party before mass shooting

WADESBORO, N.C. — Investigators are revealing new details about a mass shooting that left one person dead and six others hurt in Anson County.

It happened at a block party early Sunday morning on North Greene Street in Wadesboro. Police and State Bureau of Investigation agents are working to interview around 300 witnesses who were at the scene.

Channel 9’s Genevieve Curtis spoke with the police chief about the massive investigation. She also spoke to neighbors who were home as gunsfire rang out.

“I didn’t see anything but I heard the gunshots,” Doletha Powell said.

The sound pierced through her neighborhood around 1 a.m. Sunday.

“It is a nice, quiet neighborhood, and they were just having fun. And it got out of hand,” Powell told Curtis.

Wadesboro Police Chief Thedius Spencer said that “fun” block party wasn’t authorized.

“I’ve never witnessed something like this,” Spencer told Curtis.

Witnesses told Channel 9 they heard at least 100 shots. With the size of the crowd and the magnitude of the violence, the chief wants the community to understand how deadly this situation could have been.

“It could have been many, many more,” Spencer said. “I want the community to understand we have to work together to stop something like this. There could have been several other victims in this.”

Spencer said five people are still in the hospital and they’re being treated at Atrium in Charlotte.

On Monday, investigators with the State Bureau of Investigation, Alcohol Law Enforcement, and dozens of other law enforcement officials from neighboring agencies worked their way through Wadesboro. They spent the day combing through evidence and interviewing witnesses.

Spencer said they aren’t releasing many details right now because of the sheer number of people they still have to talk to and, in some cases, locate. He’s pleading with the public for cooperation as they look to hold people accountable and assure a safer community.

“I was born and raised here in Anson County and Wadesboro is my hometown -- I raised my kids here,” Spencer said. “We need to all come together to try and get this to stop.”

Curtis also asked Spencer how the unauthorized block party was organized. He said they’re working to find that out.

We also don’t know if there were multiple shooters.

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1 dead, 6 hurt in overnight mass shooting in Anson County

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