1 person wounded, 2 arrested after shooting near Durham County courthouse
Police arrested two people Wednesday after a shooting near the Durham County Courthouse sent a man to the hospital.
Equaan Straiter, 29, and Jordan Armand Terrell, 25, both of Durham, were charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and felony conspiracy, according to Durham police.
The man was shot several times after an argument near the intersection of Mangum and Dillard streets just before 9:30 a.m., Durham Police Department spokesman Wil Glenn said.
The man, whose name was not released, went across the street to the courthouse to get help and collapsed, Glenn said. He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
About five minutes later, officers saw a white van matching witnesses’ descriptions in the area of Club Boulevard and Dearborn Drive, according to a Police Department news release.
The driver refused to stop, and police chased it for more than 10 minutes until it crashed near Hardee and East Geer streets, the release said.
No one was injured during the chase.
‘Who would do that?’
People in the courthouse described hearing many rapid shots and seeing workers from nearby apartments under construction run for cover as deputies rushed from the building.
Then, witnesses said, they saw a man lying in the street.
Many didn’t want to share their names after the brazen shooting during the day downtown.
Nicole Dempson was in a courtroom and didn’t hear the shots, but was shocked to learn about the shooting when she walked out.
“Who would do that in front of a courthouse?” she asked.
About 15 minutes before the shooting, Kareemah Little had dropped off her 21-year-old son at the courthouse. When she heard about the shooting, she raced back and found her son was safe.
Still, she said, it’s a shame the city’s violence has reached the courthouse.
“They don’t care anymore,” Little said. “They don’t.”
.JPG "RAL_20190403_courthouseshooting_CAT_002 (1).JPG")
Sheriff Clarence Birkhead praised law enforcement’s response to the shooting.
“By working together, the Sheriff’s Office and Police Department were able to bring this serious incident to its best possible conclusion,” he said in a news release.
District Attorney Satana Deberry posted on Facebook that no one in the District’s Attorney’s Office was harmed.
“Although this morning’s incident is a reminder that some of us are never safe,” she added.
‘Loss of life in our city’
Wednesday’s shooting follows a violent weekend in Durham.
Police investigated a fatal shooting on Palmer Street on Saturday and a fatal shooting in Lakewood Shopping Center on Sunday.
Also, four police officers have been placed on administrative duty following the fatal police shooting of a man Saturday in what police have described as a domestic incident.
Durham City Council member Mark-Anthony Middleton said he regrets no one saying anything during Monday night’s council meeting about the officer-involved shooting.
“Anytime a Durham officer draws their weapon ... should give us all pause,” Middleton said Wednesday. “We’re glad the officers are safe. I certainly lament it.”
Middleton said he is renewing his call for the ShotSpotter surveillance system that tracks gunfire by sound. The council discussed ShotSpotter in March but has not decided whether to use it.
But ShotSpotter is just a tool, Middleton said. The council also addresses root causes of crime, he said. “We know employment matters, having a safe place to live,” he said.
The shooting downtown and a weekend stabbing at The Streets at Southpoint show “the idea that crime can be contained to any one area of a city is an illusion.”
Homicides
There were nine homicides in Durham as of March 16, compared to five homicides last year by that time, according to the Police Department website.
Violent crime in Durham was down 13 percent in 2018 compared to the prior year, but the city had 32 homicides last year, a 52 percent increase from 2017, The News & Observer previously reported.
Anyone with information on the recent shootings is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.
Staff writers Simone Jasper and Mark Schultz contributed to this story.
This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 9:52 AM.
