CHARLOTTE — A shooting in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood last week happened near an area full of street vendors, Channel 9 has learned.
We first shared the news when the shooting happened just before 8 p.m. Friday along N. Davidson Street, between 34th and 35th streets.
Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz learned that it started with a fight in an area where vendors set up tables on the sidewalk. Now, business owners and other street vendors are calling on everyone to stop the violence in the historic arts and entertainment district.
“I used to have to walk people to their cars with their baseball bat,” said Joe Kuhlmann, who owns The Evening Muse in the heart of NoDa. “You no longer have to do that.”
Kuhlmann said the NoDa community is normally filled with color, art, and life.
“There’s a lot of really good things that are happening; we need people to be safe, we need the community to feel safe,” Kuhlmann said.
Channel 9 was at the same intersection one year ago, nearly to the day, when another shooting involving street vendors took place. No one was hurt in that shooting.
But according to police, a man who was involved in last year’s shooting was also listed as the victim in Friday night’s shooting.
Kuhlmann thinks more oversight and regulation for street vendors could prevent something like this from happening again.
“I would really like to encourage city management, city attorneys, police, attorneys to create some sort of guideline,” Kuhlmann said. “There has to be precedence somewhere else in the city to include NoDa in that legislation.”
Troy’s Handmade Craft Jewelry is one of the street vendors out in NoDa. The owner asked not to show his face, but he says he relies on the business to make a living.
“I have a lot of good customers come out here on this side, it’s peaceful and quiet, I love it,” he said.
He said he’s worried these shootings will give street vendors a bad name, and he won’t be able to sell his custom pieces anymore.
“I am worried they will give us a bad rap,” the vendor told Goetz. “We come out here to make a living, not to get in fights or problems with everyone. Everyone should be peaceful and go about your daily business.”
Channel 9 reached out to the city and asked if Charlotte is going to take any actions or make any changes. We got a response saying they are checking with code enforcement and CMPD.
(WATCH: Man accused in NoDa woman’s brutal stabbing death bonds out of jail)
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