Neighborhood reacts to 4-year-old killed after bullets hit his home

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 4-year-old boy died early Wednesday morning after a suspect fired shots into his residence.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is investigating the homicide on Cigar Court, which is located in the Steele Creek neighborhood of the city. 

Officers initially responded to a stolen vehicle call and when they arrived to the scene, they learned shots were fired into a nearby townhome for an unknown reason.

The rounds hit a 4-year-old boy and killed him. 

“That’s the most frustrating part of this. There is no indication that anyone in the residence discharged any weapons or presented any threat to these suspects whatsoever at this time. For some reason rounds were fired into this residence unprovoked,” CMPD Maj. Ryan Kendall said.

Brandon Flowers, who lives nearby, had a home security camera that captured the aftermath.

“It’s just heartbreaking. It’s a scary thing,” Flowers said. 

Tabitha and Amy, two neighbors who knew the family, only shared their first names for safety concerns. 

Tabitha described the boy as sweet.

“He had so much life ahead of him. It’s just really tragic what happened,” Tabitha said.

They both shared the victim and his siblings lived with their grandmother after their mom passed away from cancer earlier this year.

“That family has already been navigating grief for the past few months, and this just adds, it’s going to compound that grief,” Tabitha said. 

The shooting into the home shook this community.

“It’s also heartbreaking when a child is lying in their bed, in their home, in their safety, and then it hits and then it hits a 4-year-old,” Amy said. 

Amy told her daughter to take cover when she heard the gunshots.

“You could tell the gunshots were close. You didn’t know where they were, where they were coming from and you just you don’t want your family, anybody in intermediate shot of a window or anything,” Amy said.

Police said shootings targeting homes have been on the rise in the Charlotte area. Last year, they said there were 856 of them, leaving 174 people with gunshot wounds.

In February, CMPD introduced SWITCH, a pilot program to combat this crime.

Amy hopes this trend subsides.

“Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary, your safe place,” Amy said. 

Flowers now questions his safety.

“You wake up on a morning like this and somebody’s just shooting. It does kind of make you wonder, you know. Am i in the right place? is this the right city still?” Flowers said.

Flowers and Amy both said elected officials should do more to stop the violence. 

CMPD said shootings into homes not only lead to personal harm but create a sense of fear and trauma for anyone living where these crimes have taken place. 

Mid-year crime statistics show violent crime is down in Charlotte, while vehicle thefts increased this year. There’s also an initiative tasked with recovering stolen vehicles.