What we know about the victims shot in Uptown on New Year’s Eve

CHARLOTTE — Five people are recovering after they were shot on New Year’s Eve at Romare Bearden Park in Uptown Charlotte.

>> READ MORE: At least 10 people shot in, around Romare Bearden Park in 2023

Police haven’t said what led up to the shooting and they haven’t spoken publicly about it. Late Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Vi Lyles shared a statement.

“The New Year’s Eve shooting at Romare Bearden Park was horrific and is evident of the continued focus we must have on addressing public safety,” she said. “My prayers are with the five victims, and I deeply wish for their rapid and full recovery. The trauma inflicted by such incidents is immeasurable and should never be experienced by anyone.”

The suspect in the case, 19-year-old Daevion Crawford, faces five felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

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The shooting Crawford is accused of created a chaotic scene Sunday just before midnight. Police scoured the area and arrested him minutes after the shooting.

‘This is a nightmare’

A father told Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz he was one of five people who were shot at Romare Bearden Park. Cirilo Gonzalez Cruz said he brought his wife and two sons to Uptown to simply watch the fireworks show.

Gonzalez and his family had only been there for a few minutes before those shots rang out. He said at that point, his top priority was getting his family to safety.

“When we heard them, I tried to cover my son and my wife. And my other kid was probably about 10 feet away from us, but I lost them,” he said.

“When I grabbed my son, I thought I twisted my ankle because I felt the pain in my feet,” Gonzalez added.

Now, Gonzalez has spent the first three days of the new year sitting on his couch with his right leg propped up after he was shot in the foot.

“Everyone thinks it’s never going to happen to you,” he said, adding, “This is a nightmare.”

Bandages and pain medicine sat near Gonzalez as he waited to have surgery Thursday to fix several shattered bones in his toes and foot.

“My priority is to not feel this horrible pain anymore,” he told Sáenz.

But Gonzalez is counting his blessings. He said he and his family are lucky to be alive. As they walked through Romare Bearden Park, he heard gunshots right behind him.

“At least 10 or 15. There were a lot and very often,” he said.

Gonzalez grabbed his son, found his wife and his other child nearby, and started running -- not knowing he’d been shot. He said at first, he thought he’d twisted his ankle.

“The pain got worse and worse, and that’s when I told my son something happened to me because I said ‘I did something to my foot, I did something to my foot,” he said.

As the adrenaline wore off, he felt the pain.

“I wasn’t able to walk anymore and I saw a hole in my shoe, and that’s when I realized I got shot,” Gonzalez said.

As for the accused gunman, Daevion Crawford, Gonzalez said he feels compassion for him.

“I don’t feel any hate towards him, I feel bad for him,” Gonzalez said, adding, “What made him make that decision?”

Gonzalez just wants to know why anyone would do something like this. He said the hardest part about all of this is the trauma that his 9-year-old and 15-year-old experienced. He told Sáenz his youngest son has just been trying to convince himself this is all a nightmare.

‘A lot of screaming’

“We got a call before midnight,” John Lynn told Hunter Sáenz.

Man says family friend from Europe shot in Uptown on New Year’s Eve

Lynn said he got a frantic call that his family friend from Europe, who’s here experiencing the country for a year and living with his family, was shot.

“A lot of screaming, a lot of running,” he said. “It turned into chaos pretty quickly.”

He said she was in Uptown for a nearby New Year’s Eve event.

“She was trying to decide on what her New Year’s Eve plans were, and she wanted to go to Uptown because there was a New Year’s Eve event,” Lynn said.

He said her tibia was completely shattered, requiring surgery.

“She’s been here a couple months so far and this is something that happens to her,” Lynn said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

VIDEO: ‘I can’t lose my mom’: Woman recovers after being shot New Year’s Eve in Uptown

Woman recovers after being shot New Year’s Eve in Uptown

Amanda Salazar was also shot with her kids watching. Her daughters spoke with our colleagues at Telemundo Charlotte.

“I saw all of the blood coming out of her leg and I was like -- I just started crying,” 16-year-old Lua Pene said.

She said she didn’t have long to react because she had to speak English to get help for her mom.

“And then I had to translate too, so I had to get it together to see what I could do for her,” she said.

“If we could’ve been somewhere else instead of where they were, you know?” she added. “I was just like, I can’t lose my mom. The worst was just coming in. I didn’t know what to do.”

Amanda Salazar just wanted to take her kids to see the fireworks in Uptown for New Year’s Eve.

“I’m emotional,” she told Telemundo in Spanish. “I cry every time I think my children could have been the victims.”

But that never happened.

“It affects me 100% because I can’t move, I can’t be with my family,” she said.

Now, the victims and their families just want justice.

“This young man needs to be held accountable,” John Lynn said, adding, “He has forever impacted not only the life of one of my family members, but the lives of four other people.”

In court Tuesday, Daevion Crawford’s bond was raised to $1.5 million. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department also said the gun used has not been found, but police used video surveillance to identify Crawford as a suspect.

Channel 9 is working to learn more about the other shooting victims and their families.

Read the full statement from Mayor Vi Lyles below:

“The New Year’s Eve shooting at Romare Bearden Park was horrific and is evident of the continued focus we must have on addressing public safety. My prayers are with the five victims, and I deeply wish for their rapid and full recovery. The trauma inflicted by such incidents is immeasurable and should never be experienced by anyone.

“With the rise of youth gun violence as a national concern, it is increasingly clear that creating a safe, gun-violence-free environment is a collective responsibility we all must share within our own community. The well-being of our residents and visitors remains our utmost priority, and we are committed to ensuring our city is a safe place for everyone to enjoy.”

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