Durham police identify two men shot this month as Bull City homicides mount

Note: This story was updated Dec. 22, 2021, after police released the names of the men killed.

Durham police on Wednesday released the names of men killed in two fatal shootings this month.

In the most recent shooting, officers were called to the 1200 block of Morning Glory Avenue east of downtown shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

They found an adult male, who was taken to a local hospital where he died.

On Wednesday, police identified the man as 23-year-old Omar Ravon Perry.

The fatal shooting of Perry followed three other killings in the prior seven days. Police have not made arrests in any of the cases.

▪ On Monday, Dec. 13, six young people were shot, two of them fatally at Mathison and Eugene streets, southeast of downtown. Isaiah Carrington, a 19-year-old who had attended Northern High School and the Performance Learning Center, and 15-year-old Ariuna Cotton, a student at Hillside High School, were killed.

▪ On Friday evening, Dec, 17, a man was shot to death at the intersection of Holloway Street and North Briggs Avenue in eastern Durham. On Wednesday, police identified him as 28-year-old Saquan Facyson.

As of Dec. 11, 261 people had been shot in Durham this year, 39 of them fatally, according to information police provided to The News & Observer on Monday. That compares to 297 people shot by that date last year, when 30 people had been fatally shot.

Durham has reported 47 homicides this year, more than in any year since at least 1995, the last year for which police have electronic records available.

To cope with an ongoing staffing shortage, Police Chief Patrice Andrews is putting detectives and officers from specialized units on patrol starting Jan. 1. The city and county are also expanding Bull City United, a program that sends violence interrupters into six census tracts to prevent gun violence and retaliation.

Andrews told The News & Observer she will asking the city next month to increase police officers’ pay.

“That ball is already rolling, and I’m very hopeful that council will move ahead with the plan that will be introduced,” she said in an interview Monday.

New shooting reported at mall

Sunday’s homicide happened after police received a report of gunfire at The Streets at Southpoint in southern Durham earlier in the day. No officers heard shots at the shopping center, and no suspects or victims were found, but police said in a news release they do not think it was a random act.

On Black Friday, three people were injured by gunfire at the mall and three more hurt in the melee as panicked shoppers rushed for the exits. Police have not announced any arrests in the incident, which they say stemmed from an attempted robbery outside stores on the second level.

Police are asking anyone with information about Sunday evening’s shooting to call Investigator M. Adams at 919-560-4440, ext. 29546 or 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 writer Penelope Blackwell contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 20, 2021 at 8:03 AM.