CHARLOTTE — A suspect has been arrested for kidnapping and murder charges in connection with a case from January in east Charlotte; investigators say he’s also a suspect in shootings at two adult gaming arcades, and a murder case out of Dallas, Texas.

According to a report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, on Jan. 19, a suspect went to a home on Turquoise Drive and moved two victims through the house at gunpoint before shooting one of them and kidnapping the other.

CMPD had identified the shooting victim as 26-year-old Diana Perez-Barrera.

On Thursday, CMPD released an update identifying a suspect in the case.

Police said that Quanticus Rucker, 33, was arrested on Jan. 20, but he was linked to the kidnapping and murder case after months of investigation.

What the investigation revealed:

Channel 9 obtained an affidavit that says Rucker shot Perez-Barrera and then forced another victim through the home to search for money. The victim gave him about $2,000 from a backpack, but Rucker demanded more money.

The second victim managed an “arcade gaming center” and he pleaded for Rucker not to kill him, saying he could get more money from the business. He was forced at gunpoint into the trunk of his own car, and Rucker drove to the arcade, according to the affidavit.

The victim was forced to enter the arcade to get cash, but he told security about the robbery. Security guards then confronted Rucker in the parking lot, and a shootout happened before Rucker drove off in the victim’s car, according to the affidavit.

Rucker was arrested the next day in connection with a murder investigation at another arcade by the Kannapolis Police Department. Court documents say one of Rucker’s associates was charged for killing a security guard during an attempted robbery. Kannapolis police Rucker in a hotel room with a .45 caliber handgun.

The affidavit says police matched the shell casings in the .45 handgun to the Turquoise Drive homicide, the shooting at the Kannapolis arcade, and another murder case in Dallas, Texas, that happened in September 2023.

The affidavit says a detective in Dallas got information about Rucker, and they were able to link the .45 handgun to the murder scene in Texas.

Rucker was transferred from North Carolina Department of Adult Correction to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 29.

Channel 9′s Glenn Counts talked to a gun and ammunition expert about how the arrest was made.

“That identification for our purposes is as reliable as a fingerprint to a suspect,” Virginia Commonwealth University associate professor Stephanie Walcott said. “Each gun has microscopic marks that transfer to the ammunition when they are fired.”

Rucker is facing charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

We’re working on getting more details on the case. Check back for updates.

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Sheriff calls for action after 17-year-old murder suspect escapes custody in North Carolina

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