Carrboro police charge 4 teens in drive-by shooting at downtown Wendy’s restaurant
Police charged four teenagers Monday with a shooting this month outside the Wendy’s restaurant in downtown Carrboro.
Police announced the arrests in the Aug. 2 incident Monday. Three of the four suspects are in custody, they said.
The teenagers — one 17-year-old and three 16-year-olds — were charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first -degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, shooting into an occupied vehicle inflicting serious injury, shooting into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a handgun by a minor, according to a news release.
Their names are not being released because they are under the age of 18.
Occupants of a car heading west on West Main Street fired about two dozen gunshots at a car trying to leave the Wendy’s parking lot, according to police. Bullet holes were found in a car in the drive-thru lane, an adjacent building and a restaurant dumpster.
The shooting victim fled the scene in his car and called police from a nearby apartment complex. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Another car that tried to flee struck a light pole and flipped over at the South Greensboro Street exit, police said. Three people in the car were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Police recovered between 20 and 25 shell casings from West Main Street in front of the restaurant, police said.
They have not said what led to the shooting.
The incident was the first of three gun-related crimes reported in August in Carrboro.
On Aug. 5, a resident of Oakwood Apartments on Oak Avenue came home to find people in their apartment. The resident and a friend chased the people, who fired a single gunshot, through the complex before calling police.
Two teenagers — 18-year-old Tayquan Pierre and an unnamed juvenile suspect — are being sought in connection with that break-in and shooting. No arrests have been made, Carrboro police spokesman Capt. Anthony Westbrook said in an email Monday.
The third incident occurred Aug. 22 when two men got into a fight at Salon Monterrey, behind the Monterrey Mexican Restaurant at Carrboro Plaza. One man involved in the fight pulled a gun and fired multiple shots, one of which hit the victim in the chest, police said.
The gunman, who also is under 18, was arrested and charged. The victim was treated at UNC Hospitals.
3 teens in custody
The N.C. Department of Public Safety’s Juvenile Justice division has custody of three teens charged in the Wendy’s shooting. Other area law enforcement agencies also have charged them with separate crimes, Westbrook said. Juvenile Justice officers will arrest and place the fourth suspect in a juvenile detention facility, he said.
“The investigation has determined that this was an isolated incident, and we do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the public,” Westbrook said in the release.
The Mebane Police Department, Burlington Police Department and Alamance County Sheriff’s Office helped with the investigation and arrests, he said.
Carrboro gun violence
Carrboro police have reported 13 incidents involving a firearm this year, which includes handguns, rifles and shotguns, according to data that Westbrook provided to The N&O.
The department has averaged just under 15 incidents a year since 2015, the data showed. That included 16 gun-related incidents last year. The most reported in one year was in 2018, when there were 22 incidents, including a murder, Westbrook said.
Other incidents included assault by pointing a gun, discharging a firearm in town limits, robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, he said.
“Carrboro is a very safe place to live and work, but we are not immune to the problems of the world,” Westbrook said in an email last week. “Violent incidents in Carrboro involving firearms are infrequent, and having three within a month is rare.”
Anyone with information about the shooting can call Carrboro Police Investigator Trey Kennedy at 919-918-7412 or CrimeStoppers at 919-942-7515. Calls to CrimeStoppers are anonymous.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 10:21 AM.
