A quadruple shooting in Concord left two people dead and two others injured Sunday night, the Concord Police Department said Monday afternoon.
The shooting occurred at 11:08 p.m. 1480 Fairington Drive Northwest, where police found four gunshot victims, a press release said.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and two others were transported to the hospital, the press release said.
Sunday’s homicide was the second double homicide in Concord since Jan. 26. A teenager is accused of fatally shooting one person in a home on Kite Court Northeast and another person in a vehicle that same night.
Jeff A. Chamer is a breaking news reporter for the Charlotte Observer. He’s lived a few places, but mainly in Michigan where he grew up. Before joining the Observer, Jeff covered K-12 and higher education at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in Massachusetts.
James Campbell is escorted out of a April 15, 2024, Cabarrus County commission meeting after he addressed members of the commission by name. The county agreed to settle with Campbell.
Screenshot via CabCoTV.
Cabarrus County commissioners voted 4-1 on Tuesday night to approve a new public-participation policy that rolls back restrictions on what residents can say at board meetings, a move commissioners said was necessary to comply with a recent North Carolina Court of Appeals decision on free speech.
The change came after months of scrutiny surrounding the county’s public-comment rules, which drew a federal lawsuit last year after a resident was removed from a meeting and banned from attending meetings for 90 days after he allegedly violated the county’s policy.
While the new policy removes restrictions on profanity, personal insults and other harsh language in public comment, one commissioner said the change could invite abusive language into county meetings.
“We can basically allow hate speech in here under this policy,” Commissioner Jeff Jones warned, arguing the revised rules could intimidate residents from speaking for fear of “abuse” and could lead to more censorship rather than free-speech rights. “I cannot promote hate speech, and I can not promote any policy that allows obscenity, vulgarity and profanity. I think it degrades the civic discourse of this meeting. It can lower the standards of debate. I think it lowers the standards of Cabarrus County.”
Commissioners approved the new policy after County Attorney Doug Hall said the board was responding to guidance from a state court case, State v. Barthel. The case, decided in November, involved charges tied to a profane banner displayed during an Avery County Board of Commissioners meeting. The Court of Appeals vacated a conviction under North Carolina’s “disrupting an official meeting” law, finding the speech at issue was protected by the First Amendment and emphasizing that government officials “cannot require citizens to be polite when criticizing their representatives.”
“I certainly hear what Commissioner Jones is saying, but I think these changes that you all are considering tonight are more or less necessary for us to comply with this new case,” Hall said.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Larry Pittman said he personally disliked profanity and vulgar speech, but said he believed the board had little choice.
“I don’t want that stuff in here, but if we’re constrained by a lawsuit that says we can’t do that anymore, we need to work on changing some minds in the judiciary on that,” he said. “And meanwhile, we have to put up with it. I hate that, but that’s just how it is.”
The new Cabarrus policy vote follows prior controversy over the county’s old rules. Last month, Cabarrus County agreed to publicly acknowledge it had misspoken about its participation policy and provide training for newly elected or appointed commissioners after settling a free-speech lawsuit brought by a county resident. The lawsuit argued the county violated the First Amendment by removing a resident from a meeting and banning him.
Commissioner Ian Patrick, who made the motion to approve the new rules on Tuesday night, told The Charlotte Observer before the meeting that the policy was being updated as part of the board’s annual review process, but also because the Court of Appeals “basically said that there are almost no restrictions on what the public can and can’t say in public meetings,” aside from the need to keep meetings orderly.
Patrick said he believed the old Cabarrus rules were too restrictive even before the ruling, describing them as “draconian” and objecting to language requiring residents to show “respect” toward commissioners.
“They absolutely do not have to respect us if they don’t,” Patrick said. “We work for the public. It’s not the other way around. … I believe that it should be a free-speech policy.”
Patrick reiterated his point on Tuesday night, saying public officials are obligated to listen even when the public’s speech is harsh.
“We are public officials. We are accountable to the people,” Patrick said. “If they have something they want to say to us, whether we like it or not, we have to sit up here and listen to it. … I believe this policy should have been changed long ago.”
This story was originally published January 21, 2026 at 7:45 AM.
A couple who previously resided in the Charlotte region pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $1.4 million in COVID relief funds, authorities announced Friday.
Tatiana Vazquez, 39, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy affecting a financial institution and conspiracy to defraud the government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. Her co-conspirator, 41-year-old Marquise Highsmith, pleaded guilty to the same charges on Oct. 7.
The pair previously lived in Midland in Cabarrus County. They also resided in New York.
According to court documents, the fraudulent activity occurred in two waves. From May 2020 to January 2022, Vazquez, Highsmith and several associates submitted fraudulent applications to financial institutions and the Small Business Administration. These applications sought loans through the Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs.
To secure the funds, the group provided falsified information, including fabricated tax filings and inflated employee totals.
Highsmith operated transportation and delivery services and a business called MRHReality Group. Vazquez ran a business called Jadore Dream Bartending Services and 5 Star Securities Services. Together, they also ran a business called Transportation Marketing Services, records show.
As a result, the couple obtained more than $450,000.
Prosecutors noted that after receiving the money, the defendants filed loan forgiveness applications containing further inaccuracies, which led to the dismissal of some debt.
The scheme evolved between July 2022 and February 2023, when Vazquez and Highsmith targeted IRS-operated programs, including the Employee Retention Credit and the Sick Leave and Family Leave Credit. These programs were designed to provide tax credits to legitimate businesses for employment taxes and wages.
By filing false tax forms, the defendants collected over $1 million in additional refunds to which they were not entitled.
Court documents say the funds were used to fund their lifestyle and on luxury goods, although the documents did not provide additional details on the spending.
Vazquez and Highsmith were released on bond; a sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Widespread COVID fraud in the Charlotte Region
The guilty pleas arrive as federal prosecutors continue to pursue pandemic-related fraud across the Western District of North Carolina.
The total misuse of COVID funds in the district, which covers the Charlotte metro area, includes tens of millions, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. To date, more than 30 individuals have been prosecuted and convicted.
Among the pending cases is that of Charlotte City Councilwoman Tiawana Brown.
In May, a federal grand jury indicted Brown and her two daughters for allegedly orchestrating a $124,000 COVID fraud scheme. Prosecutors allege the trio used the funds for personal expenses, including $15,000 for a private birthday party for Brown.
Chase Jordan is a business reporter for The Charlotte Observer, and has nearly a decade of experience covering news in North Carolina. Prior to joining the Observer, he was a growth and development reporter for the Wilmington StarNews. The Kansas City native is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University.
‘Saw me as a person’: Video shows traffic stop turn into moment of hope for recovering mother
A moment of humanity was captured on a Cabarrus County deputy’s body camera, and one act of kindness changed a woman’s life.
Channel 9’s Hannah Goetz heard about this story months ago and has been pushing the courts to release the video. This week, we finally get to see the glimmer of hope from the lens of Cabarrus County Deputy Shawn Singleton’s body camera.
The view is nothing out of the ordinary; it starts with a standard traffic stop. Singleton tells a driver that she was stopped for going 61 miles per hour in a 45-mph zone.
Katelyn Ricchini, the driver, says she was heading home from church when she got pulled over that Sunday.
“I meet him with absolute attitude, just absolute attitude,” Ricchini told Goetz.
The body camera video shows their interaction.
“I’m not allowed to have bad days?” she said.
“No, everybody is entitled to a bad day. I can understand that completely, okay, but like, I’m trying to be nice and courteous to you, and like, I’m getting a lot of heat off,” Singleton can be heard telling her.
“I’m sorry, I come from a background where I don’t do cops, I can’t stand cops, OK,” she said.
Keeping his composure, Singleton ran her license and decided to let her off with a warning, despite the heated interaction.
In that moment, something changed.
“I could tell something was going on, but, and you know, just asked a question, and sometimes it elicits an answer that you expect, and sometimes it elicits an answer that you don’t expect. And this was definitely one that I didn’t expect,” Singleton told Goetz.
The body camera video shows the rest of their interaction.
“Are you good?” Singleton asks Ricchini.
“No, no, my anxiety is killing me,” she said. “I come from a background‚ I’m clean and sober now, OK … I’ve always had bad incidents with cops.”
“I understand probably where you came from is probably not the best. OK, you came down here for a reason, right? Okay, give it a chance. OK, don’t bring the anxieties,” Singleton says.
He offers words of encouragement while having no idea what she was going through until this moment.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” he says. “Do you need help with anything at all? Do you want a hug?”
Katelyn says yes, and she explains through tears how she ended up in North Carolina.
“I moved down here to get away from an abusive relationship, and I’m clean and I’m sober for four months,” Ricchini said through tears.
After battling years of addiction and abuse, she moved to the state from Maryland, leaving her 5-year-old son behind so that she could get clean and get him back.
“I’ve never hugged a cop before, I’ve always been put in handcuffs by them,” she said.
Singleton had no idea his humanity and kindness that day changed Ricchini’s life and possibly saved it.
“I told him, I’m ready to give up,” Ricchini said. “I was actually on my way to probably do something that wasn’t in my best interest.”
The traffic stop happened back in March. Now, six months later, she’s celebrating 10 months clean.
“Look, this is one of the guys that saved my life,” Ricchini said, introducing Singleton to her son.
“It’s good to see you again,” he said.
Ricchini told Goetz, “He saw me as a person, not an addict. And he saw my heart, I have potential. When so many people had counted me out, and so many people just lost hope and lost faith in me, he saw something.”
“I try to show mercy and grace where I can, because that’s what I believe is the calling for myself and for law enforcement is, that’s what most of us get into. We want to be there to help,” Singleton said. “If you have that moment, that chance to show that sympathy, and that moment to do it, and not just walk badly by because it may mean the difference to somebody else.”
Ricchini says she’ll be one year sober in November, and she invited Singleton to celebrate with her.
She also has a full-time job, and her son now lives with her again.
>>See the traffic stop unfold in the video at the top of this page.
(WATCH: ‘Very exciting’: Cabarrus County Schools recognized for high graduation rates)
