Shootout involving teens leaves 1 dead in southwest Charlotte, CMPD says

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is investigating a shootout between teenagers that left one person dead in southwest Charlotte Thursday night.

The incident occurred shortly after 11:30 p.m. on Apex Landing Way near West Tyvola Road. Police said they found two male victims at the scene who had been shot. Both were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

One of the victims died at the hospital, according to police.

In an interview, CMPD Maj. Ryan Butler told Channel 9 two groups were shooting at each other. One of the groups was inside a vehicle and the other group was by the Avion Points apartment complex, according to Butler.

Butler went on to explain that during the shooting, the group inside the vehicle crashed into several parked cars. At least two people involved in the crash were also taken to the hospital, according to Butler.

Butler said the people involved were under the age of 18. The police report lists two 15-year-olds, a 17--year-old, and an 18-year-old.

“The key here is again, we are here together discussing the fact that we have somebody who has lost their life. Regardless of the circumstances that led up to that, this is not the outcome that anybody wants,” Butler said.

Tonya Dickson said she slept through everything, but came outside Friday morning to find her car damaged. She spent the morning cleaning out what’s left of her car.

“Nothing else I can do but shop around for another car,” she said.

As she unloaded her Christmas wrapping paper and other belongings, she said she was just thankful to be alive. She’s thinking of the victim.

“I pray for the family,” Dickson said. “They lost a child. ‘Cause it’s the holidays.”

One woman told Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz she lives in a first floor unit and hid when she heard the shots.

“I heard ‘pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow,’“ she said. “I just hit the floor and crawled into the kitchen from the hallway and leaned up against the wall until they finished shooting.”

Eric King Johnson said he came running outside when he heard gunshots.

“I’m thinking someone just got killed or something, so I just ran back outside to check. And when I ran back outside, I noticed four cars across the street from my apartment building were wrecked over, and a guy was lying in them. It was like a real crime scene last night,” Johnson explained.

He was shocked by what he found.

“I was stunned because I heard the gunshots and then I see a body sitting in the car,” he said. “I was like oh man, somebody is dead.”

“We just got to start making sure the kids are at home and making sure that everybody is safe at night,” Johnson added.

So far, no one has been arrested. CMPD asked that anyone with home security footage or information about the shooting to call 704-432-TIPS.

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