Man accused in Pineville shootout arrested in Pennsylvania, police say

PINEVILLE, N.C. — A man involved in a shootout at a busy Pineville intersection at the beginning of May has been arrested, police said.

The shooting happened on May 6 at the intersection of Park and Pineville Matthews roads, not far from Carolina Place Mall.

According to police, officers received several 911 calls around 9:15 a.m. concerning two drivers who were causing a disturbance on the road. A short time later, police said the drivers started shooting at each other.

Police said one of the drivers, 28-year-old Elizaul Trujillo, was hit by the gunfire. He parked his car and ran to Atrium Health Pineville, which is right around the corner, and was taken to Charlotte for surgery.

Officials said Trujillo then checked himself out of the hospital and was believed to be in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. Investigators in both the Charlotte area and Philadelphia were searching for him, according to Pineville police.

Trujillo was later arrested in Pennsylvania and faces charges for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, shooting into an occupied vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Police said he will be extradited back to Mecklenburg County.

The second driver was not hurt and has not been charged at this time.

Witness Boyce Allan told Channel 9 she saw the two drivers shooting at one another in a Circle K parking lot nearby.

“I look over and the shooter is just right there shooting at the other car,” she said. “So I got a full description of both cars.”

Police said several nearby businesses were hit by the gunfire, including a Firestone and Exxon gas station. A bullet also went through a parked car, but no one else was hurt, according to police.

Investigators told Channel 9 they found more than a dozen shell casings at the scene and that one of the people involved dumped a gun in the hospital parking lot.

“We did recover a weapon that was over there that we believe was used during this incident so that area was roped off as well. That’s one of the areas we’ll be processing,” Corey Copley with the Pineville Police Department said.

Police said a second gun was also found, but did not say where.

Police told Channel 9′s Tina Terry Trujillo was fighting with the other driver over a girl and that led to the shootout between the two drivers. Police initially told Channel 9 that they believed it was due to road rage because one of the people involved called 911, but that’s no longer the case. After investigating, officers found out the drivers know each other.

According to police, they processed six crime scenes, interviewed witnesses and questioned the shooter.

This was the second public shooting in Pineville that week. On Saturday, two men started shooting at each other after getting into an argument near the food court inside Carolina Place Mall.

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