Police officers arrested multiple juveniles and parents New Year’s Eve in connection with a rash of gun violence across Charlotte, North Carolina, authorities said.
Officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) heard gunfire while patrolling Romare Bearden Park just outside Uptown Charlotte at about 11:30 p.m. after a city-approved event in Uptown Charlotte ended without any incident, a CMPD statement said. The suspected gunman, 19-year-old Daevion Crawford, allegedly fired multiple gunshots that hit five victims’ legs, according to the statement. The officers reportedly located and arrested Crawford using video technology. Crawford was charged with five counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill and one count of Going Armed to the Terror of the Public, and was placed on a $750,000 bond, the statement noted.
“It was just chaotic, it was a lot of chaos,” Samira Urban, a witness, told WSOC-TV. Urban had taken her four children to watch the fireworks but departed with her children before the display as multiple fights allegedly broke out in the crowd hours before the shooting, the outlet reported.
“I feel like at that point, they should have closed the park down,” Urban added. (RELATED: Video Shows People Scrambling For Cover From Fatal House Party Shooting)
CMPD officers also arrested 11 juveniles and a young adult over multiple other disturbances, according to the statement. The suspects reportedly face charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, going armed to the terror of the public, assault on a government official, carrying a concealed weapon, resisting a public officer and possession of a handgun by a minor. The officers also arrested six parents/guardians of the juveniles and charged them with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the statement noted.
One of the juveniles, an allegedly armed 15-year-old male with a lengthy criminal history, had cut off his electronic tag before his alleged involvement in the disturbances, CMPD said. The Department of Juvenile Justice, which issued the ankle monitor, allegedly prevented the CMPD from obtaining a secure custody order for the suspect, causing the suspect to be released to a family member.
Three officers reportedly sustained minor injuries, two from assaults and the third from an unknown chemical substance allegedly thrown at them.