1 person shot at Carrboro shopping center. Gunman fires at car in separate incident.

Carrboro police are investigating two weekend shooting incidents, including one that sent a person to the hospital.

The first incident happened around 7:35 p.m. Saturday when a person told police someone he was in an altercation with in the Carrboro Plaza parking lot pulled out a gun and shot him.

As the suspect fled, another person who was with the victim fired multiple shots at the fleeing car. One of the shots hit another car in the parking lot, police said in a Monday news release.

The person who was shot was taken to UNC Hospitals with a non-life-threatening injury, police said.

The second shooting happened around 6 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of N.C. 54 and Jones Ferry Road.

The victims in that incident told police they were driving on N.C. 54 and as they exited the highway at Jones Ferry Road, a speeding car overtook them and stopped in front of them on the exit ramp.

They told police that someone got out of the car that had cut them off and fired shots into the front of their car, before getting back into their car and speeding away. No one was hurt, but the victims’ car had minor damage.

Police said it’s unclear what the motive was for the second shooting. The two incidents appear to be unrelated, officials said, and there is no ongoing threat to the public. Additional information will be released as it becomes available, they said.

Anyone with information about the incident at Carrboro Plaza can call Carrboro Investigator Jordan Armstrong at 919-918-7417. Information about the incident at N.C. 54 and Jones Ferry Road can be reported to Investigator Erasmo Velazquez at 919-918-7413.

Information also can be reported anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 919-942-7515.

Carrboro shooting statistics

Carrboro police have reported 23 incidents this year involving a firearm — the most gun-related reports in a single year since 2015, according to police spokesman Capt. Anthony Westbrook.

The second-highest number was reported in 2018 when there were 22 incidents involving a gun, he said. On average, the town reports about 15 gun-related incidents a year, he said, ranging from discharging a firearm in the town limits and carrying a concealed weapon, to violent crimes, including assault by pointing a gun, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and murder.

While it is “extremely rare” for Carrboro to have six shootings within a five-month period, Westbrook said, there is nothing to indicate that any of the shootings are gang-related.

“From watching the news, it appears that violent crime is up nationwide — and they have their theories and explanations,” Westbrook said. “Carrboro is still a relatively safe community, but as always, we are not immune from the problems of the world.”

Multiple teenagers are among the suspects charged in this year’s incidents.

▪ On Aug. 3, someone in a passing car fired multiple shots at a car in the parking lot of the Wendy’s restaurant in downtown Carrboro. Three people were injured when a driver fleeing the gunfire flipped over in the restaurant’s driveway.

The gunman’s target also was injured and treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

Police charged four teenagers — one 17-year-old and three 16-year-olds — with that crime.

▪ Another 16-year-old and 18-year-old Tayquan Tylee Kenshon Pierre were arrested in connection with an Aug. 5 shooting at 605 Oak Ave.

The victim in that case, a resident of Oakwood Apartments, arrived home to find break-in suspects in his apartment. One of the suspects fired a single gunshot at the resident as the group fled through the complex.

The names of the other suspects have not been released because they are under the age of 18.

▪ Another man was shot and a teenager arrested following an argument Aug. 22 at Salon Monterrey, an event venue at the Carrboro Plaza shopping center.

▪ A fourth shooting before this weekend’s incidents was reported in October at the Berkshire 54 apartments at 112 N.C. 54. That shooting left one man dead and sent another to the hospital with serious injuries.

Carrboro police charged Brandon Lee Freeman, 27, of the Berkshire 54 apartments, with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury in that incident.

This story was originally published December 6, 2021 at 11:52 AM.

Tammy Grubb

The News & Observer

919-829-8926

Tammy Grubb has written about Orange County’s politics, people and government since 2010. She is a UNC-Chapel Hill alumna and has lived and worked in the Triangle for over 30 years.