Man shot while driving, died at hospital. Carrboro police seeing more guns, violence.
Carrboro police are investigating a fatal shooting that happened last month near The Villages apartments on Smith Level Road.
Taeveon Michael Jaquenti Young, 23, of Durham, was shot while driving a car, according to police, who do not think the killing was random.
Police initially got a call just after 11 p.m. on Jan. 31 about gunshots near the BPW Club Road entrance to the apartment complex, Chief Chris Atack told The News & Observer in a phone interview Thursday.
“Officers responded to the area, checked it, didn’t see anything, didn’t find anything,” Atack said. “About 15, 20 minutes later, somebody showed up at UNC at the ER with a gunshot wound, was dropped off, and that person ultimately died of their injury.”
Police did not have enough time to talk with Young, he said, but later they found evidence that pinpointed the location of the shooting. The victim’s black, 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee was found and has been impounded as evidence, spokesman Capt. Anthony Westbrook said Friday in an email.
There have been no arrests in the case as of Friday afternoon.
The department did not release information earlier, as is typical when someone is shot, Atack said, because they are short-staff and were busy, but also because they “weren’t 100% sure where it happened for a number of days.”
The department recently hired two new officers but still has nine of 39 positions vacant, he said.
Drive-bys, break-ins, shots fired
Carrboro had an “extremely rare” series of six gun-related crimes from August to December last year, Westbrook said.
▪ Aug. 3: Someone in a passing car fired 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. The names of the juvenile suspects have not been released.
▪ Aug. 5: A resident of Oakwood Apartments, at 605 Oak Ave., came home to find break-in suspects in his apartment. One suspect fired a single gunshot at the resident as the group fledx. A 16-year-old and 18-year-old Tayquan Tylee Kenshon Pierre were arrested in connection with the shooting.
▪ Aug. 22: A man was shot and a teenager, whose name has not been released, was arrested following an argument at Salon Monterrey, an event venue at the Carrboro Plaza shopping center.
▪ Oct. 22: One man was killed and another taken to the hospital with serious injuries after a shooting at the Berkshire 54 apartments, located at 112 N.C. 54. Brandon Lee Freeman, 27, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.
▪ Dec. 4: A man was shot in the Carrboro Plaza parking lot after getting into an argument with a man who pulled a gun. As the suspect fled, another person with the victim fired multiple shots at the fleeing car, hitting another car in the parking lot. The victim was taken to UNC Hospitals with a non-life-threatening injury, police said.
▪ Dec. 5: The victims told police they were exiting N.C. 54 at Jones Ferry Road when a speeding car overtook them and stopped in front of them on the exit ramp. The suspect got out of the car and fired shots into the front of the car, police said, before getting back in their car and speeding away. No one was hurt in the shooting, they said.
No arrests have been made in the December shootings, Westbrook said.
Atack, who was asked about possible gang or gang member involvement, said there’s not enough evidence to link any of the shootings.
“We’ve tried to find a pattern since our August events have started, and it seems to be primarily people engaged in activities that would put you at a greater risk for injury,” he said, declining to speculate about whether the Jan. 31 shooting fits that pattern.
Police seeing more guns, violence
The town averages about 15 gun-related incidents a year, 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.
Last year, there were 23 incidents involving a firearm — the most in a single year since 2015, Westbrook said. Five incidents have been reported since Jan. 1.
One person was killed in 2021, he said.
That suspect has a Carrboro address, but Atack said Carrboro residents are generally not involved in violent crimes. The names and addresses of several juvenile suspects have not been made public.
However, Atack said, he is seeing more powerful weapons in Carrboro, including rifles, higher-caliber handguns and higher-capacity ammunition magazines. The COVID-19 pandemic also is adding to “the dysfunction in greater society,” he said, including spikes in violence, mental health issues and drug overdoses locally and nationwide.
“Carrboro has always had violent crime, but it’s never been at the frequency or magnitude as we see in other places, and it’s still not comparatively to Durham and all that,” Atack said. “But I can tell you people seem a whole lot more inclined to shoot at somebody.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 3:18 PM.
