CMPD: 2 shot during undercover drug buy in northeast Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two people suffered life-threatening injuries in a northeast Charlotte shooting Tuesday afternoon.

Officers sealed off the streets around Hidden Valley Elementary School Tuesday afternoon minutes after gunshots rang out in the school's parking lot.

"I heard five shots then I just grabbed my son and took him to another room," said neighbor Ruby Garcia.

Garcia told Channel 9 she had no idea who was shot or why, but police said it was an undercover drug buy gone bad.

Police said an informant working with vice officers was shot.

IMAGES: 2 shot after undercover drug buy goes bad, police say

"The drug deal was consummated. The undercover and the informant were moving back towards their vehicle when the two suspects turned around, re-approached them and began firing," said Charlotte Mecklenbug Police Chief Rodney Monroe.  "He (the informant) was shot in the shoulder."

Monroe said undercover officers working with the informant fired back, hitting one of the suspects in the head.

That person was rushed to the hospital.

The second suspect took off and police swarmed the neighborhood setting up a perimeter and brought in a K-9 to help in the search.

The search turned up nothing, but Monroe said the suspect may also be at the hospital.

CHOPPER 9: Scene of undercover drug buy gone bad

"The second suspect, we don't know whether he was hit or not, but we do have a person who has shown up with a gunshot wound we're trying to work through now," Monroe said.

Police said that the main seller of the operation, 17-year-old Jaquaz Walker, is in critical condition.

Some residents in the neighborhood have questions why the deal had to go down in front of the school, while some staff were inside.

Monroe suggested that police couldn't control where the deal went down.

"The location was determined by the people setting up the drug deal, but we believe we had ample protection for those inside the school and those covered at the time," Monroe said.

No one at the school was hurt, but police quickly sealed off the campus.

Police said officer Franchot Pack and officer Johnathan LeCompte were involved in the shooting.