GASTONIA, N.C. — An 18-year-old has been arrested after a shooting at a McDonald’s in Gastonia on Sunday evening. He was given a $1 million bond in court Monday.
Gastonia police said 18-year-old Martin Rojas has been charged with attempted murder in the case. Rojas is accused of shooting a 17-year-old in the parking lot. The teen was found unconscious and was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to Gaston Emergency Medical Services.
The family of victim Amirr Brown told Channel 9′s Ken Lemon that he is a McDonald’s employee. He was shot in the leg and the bullet hit a major artery, Brown’s mother said.
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Amirr’s mother, Chante Brown, said she got a call from police about an hour before he was supposed get off work. They are still trying to understand why this happened to a 17-year-old who was just trying to finish his shift.
Chante Brown said Amirr is kindhearted and always thinking about others.
Investigators said though they were not able to talk to Amirr, they got a description of the suspect and the car and were able to arrest Rojas hours later.
‘Somebody just tried to kill my son’
It’s all been hard on Amirr Brown’s mother, who said she has another son who survived a shooting. She is praying her 17-year-old survives this one.
“So yeah it’s really heavy on me,” she said. “Somebody just tried to kill my son.”
Rojas barely spoke in court Monday. He was given a bond of $1 million, which speaks volumes about how seriously the court views the shooting.
Chante Brown said she’s not sure why it happened, and mentioned her son was unconscious by the time police arrived.
“We was unable to speak to him, no one spoke to him at all,” she said.
Police said in addition to the one that hit an artery in his leg, Brown had been shot multiple times.
“Kind of a sad time for us,” his mom said.
She told Lemon she realizes it’s also a sad time for the family of Martin Rojas.
“I can’t even imagine what his mother is going through,” she said.
She is struck by the fact that two young lives hang in the balance -- everything can be so different for them depending on what happens next.
“It just lets us know how serious it is here, what’s going on with the young people,” Chante Brown said.
This is a developing story; check back at wsoctv.com for updates.
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