Statesville man arrested, accused of shooting woman inside car

STATESVILLE, N.C. — The U.S. Marshals apprehended a 37-year-old man Tuesday for his role in a shooting that happened on March 13 in Statesville, police said.

Justin Tyrone Cowan, of Statesville, is accused of shooting a woman multiple times while she was inside her car.

It happened along North Center Street around noon. Statesville police said the woman crashed into another vehicle after she was shot. Investigators said the driver of that other car stopped, and they also tried to help the woman.

Investigators believe she was leaving a nearby home when she was struck by gunfire while pulling out of the driveway.

Cowan appeared before a magistrate and was placed in the Iredell County jail with no bond due to the charges being domestically related.

Officers told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty the woman was in stable condition after the shooting.

Police rerouted traffic around North Center Street for about three hours while they investigated.

Neighbors across the street heard the crash and tried to help.

“There’s been a wreck out there so he goes to the door and opens it and he says ‘there’s a woman in our yard,” said Bonnie Causey. “So he runs in here to get a blanket to put on her.”

The crime scene was massive. Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over police tape that extended around the home as well as its driveway, which is were the woman was pulling out of.

Officers haven’t said yet why she was there or what led up to her being shot, but Faherty learned that day that police have identified a person of interest in the case. Police also told Faherty they didn’t believe this was a random shooting.

“It was just scary,” Causey said. “It’s scary because we don’t know what happened. We don’t know if she had a gun in her car. We don’t know if they found anything in the car. We don’t know.”

Faherty found out that the SBI has been called in to assist with the investigation. He also learned that police got a search warrant for the car that the woman was in when she was shot.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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