An early morning shooting in east Durham killed two young people and injured four others, the latest killings in a year of record homicides in the Bull City.
It happened around 3 a.m. near the intersection of Mathison and Eugene streets south of the Durham Freeway, according to a Police Department news release.
Police found a black Hyundai SUV crashed into a utility pole and six people who had been shot.
A 19-year-old man and another person, whom police have not identified, died at the scene, police said.
Three female victims and one male victim, all juveniles, were taken to the hospital. Police Chief Patrice Andrews said at least one of the victims was in critical condition.
The shooting did not appear to be random, she said.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, police said they were still working to determine who was responsible.
Police have announced no arrests or suspects, and investigators have not yet determined a motive.
“There is no room in our city for this type of violence,” Andrews said. “It’s senseless. It’s beyond tragic. And lives are forever going to be changed.”
Durham Mayor Elaine O’Neal, a retired judge who took office one week ago, called on every citizen to volunteer 2.5 to 5 hours each week “towards community service outside your normal circle.”
“We have to create and develop a safety net for our children,” she said. “Durham is better than this. The Bull City is better than this. And we cannot rest until every street, block, neighborhood and ZIP code across this city is safe.”
“I commit to doing my part,” she added. “Now, if this does not lead you to doing your part to help make this happen, I don’t know what will.”
At the news conference, Durham Board of Commissioners Chair Brenda Howerton, Sheriff Clarence Birkhead and Durham Public Schools Superintendent Pascal Mubenga also expressed their sorrow over the shooting.
Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews listens to a question during a press conference on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 about a shooting that occurred on Mathison Street in Durham, N.C. that killed two young people and injured four others. Julia Wall jwall@newsobserver.com
“How many more of our young people are we going to lose to gun violence, to the streets, to being caught up in the gang activity, before we mobilize and take direct action to address this problem?” Birkhead said. “Waking up at 3 o’clock in the morning to this news traumatizes all of us. We cannot accept this as the norm in Durham.”
When asked whether police were investigating if previous altercations or gang activity had led to the shooting, Andrews said: “We are looking at everything.”
“We don’t really know what’s behind (the shooting) but we are really working to determine what exactly sparked it,” she said. “We need folks to come forward with information, and that’s been a historic challenge with many of our investigations.”
Mubenga said he could not comment on whether any of the victims were students at Durham schools.
“Any time you have juveniles, I know those are school-aged students,” he said, declining to comment further.
Durham police and forensics units respond on the scene of a deadly shooting in Durham, N.C. where six young people were shot, two fatally, early on Monday morning, Dec. 13, 2021. Julia Wall jwall@newobserver.com
‘This is happening right in front of your house’
Dozens of yellow evidence markers lay scattered on the ground Monday at the site of the shooting, two blocks from Burton Magnet Elementary School.
Classes at the school were switched from in person to online Monday as the police investigation closed roads.
America Melara was home with her husband and teenage son when she heard the sound of gunfire outside.
“Like eight shots,” she said in Spanish. “Pop! Pop! Pop! Then less than a minute, again, like six more. Then silence.”
She looked out the window and heard a woman screaming in the street, “No! No! No!”
Melara, who is from El Salvador, has lived in the neighborhood about a year. She said it was the first shooting she had heard on her street.
Robert Gupton, 60, also heard the gunshots and said he walked to the scene, where he saw a person lying in front of the SUV, and another person being treated for a gunshot wound on a front porch.
A forensics investigator gathers evidence a block away from the scene of a shooting that killed two young people and injured four others in Durham, N.C. early Monday morning, Dec. 13, 2021. Julia Wall
A person in the car was screaming, he said.
Gupton said he knew of three shootings that have occurred in the area since the start of the summer.
“I’m scared,” he said, adding he plans to move soon.
José Serrano Ochoa, 42, another neighbor awakened by the gunfire, has lived in the area for a decade and said he’s grown used to the violence. A shooting happened last year outside his house, he said.
“Every year, it’s been the same here,” he said. “I haven’t seen a rise or decrease (in shootings).”
Ochoa said he gathered in a room with his wife and daughters after they heard the shots and stayed there until police arrived.
“You do get worried, (because) this is happening right in front of your house,” he said. “You don’t know when a stray bullet could enter your house while you’re sleeping.”
City Council member: ‘This is personal to me’
Around 11 a.m., newly elected City Councilman Leonardo Williams stood outside the crime tape blocking off about two blocks at the scene.
“This is personal to me,” said Williams, who has a 15-year-old son. “The kids who were shot, the kids who were killed were all around his age.”
When asked what steps the city should take after this shooting, Williams said no one has all the answers.
“But I know for a fact that the solutions for what we are dealing with are embedded in the community,” he said. “And it us up to us as a local government, as local leadership to ensure we are creating a safe culture for communication. It’s up to us to ensure we are addressing the basic needs.”
Williams pointed to programs like Bull City United, a team of violence interrupters that addresses gun violence with a public health approach, as examples of efforts the city is investing in to stop shootings. The city is spending over $900,000 this fiscal year to expand the effort from two to six census tracts, at least one if which is close to Monday’s shooting.
”Just because it’s (one of our) primary efforts, just because it is an effective program, doesn’t mean it’s enough,” Williams said. “There has to be more.”
I am devastated by the news of 6 teenagers who were in shot in central Durham last night. Two have died and four more are in critical condition. This tragedy is compounded by the near-certainty that the shooters were also very young and that their lives are now destroyed as well.
Last week Andrews announced top-ranking police officers, members of specialized units and detectives will start riding patrols Jan. 1 to help with an ongoing officer staffing shortage. Andrews said she will also participate.
There had been 43 reported homicides this year, the chief told the City Council on Thursday. That was the most since at least 1995, according to readily available police records.
Fatal shootings were also up this year, despite the overall number of shooting incidents and people being shot falling from the year before.
As of Nov. 27, about 44.2% of homicides had been cleared this year in Durham, including about 41.7% of shooting homicides.
Cases are typically cleared by an arrest, but in rare cases, police may clear a case for other reasons, such as when an offender dies or is arrested in another jurisdiction.
For all shooting incidents, police had solved about 19.1% of cases this year — higher than the roughly 11.6% and 12.6% solved in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews responds to a question about gangs and potential suspects during a press conference on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 about a shooting that occurred on Mathison Street in Durham, N.C. that killed two young people and injured four others. Julia Wall jwall@newsobserver.com
In an emailed statement, Durham police said it is too soon to compare clearance rate data to other cities of Durham’s size. The Federal Bureau of Investigations last released average clearance rates for 2019.
“It is too early to tell how issues such as the pandemic or other concerns may have affected crime clearance rates nationally and in cities our size in 2020 and 2021,” the department said in a statement.
Police have asked those with information about Monday’s shooting to call investigators at 919-560-4440, ext. 29163 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. People who provide anonymous tips leading to arrests in felony cases can earn cash rewards.
Staff writer Mark Schultz contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 7:41 AM.
Virginia Bridges covers what is and isn’t working in North Carolina’s criminal justice system for The News & Observer’s and The Charlotte Observer’s investigation team. She has worked for newspapers for more than 20 years. The N.C. State Bar Association awarded her the Media & Law Award for Best Series in 2018, 2020 and 2025.
