Officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were called to a plaza on University City Boulevard around 4:30 p.m. for a shooting.
At the scene, CMPD found the victim in the parking lot of the University City Plaza with a gunshot wound.
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MEDIC pronounced them dead at the scene.
“Officers arrived and located the male victim in the parking lot suffering from a gunshot wound. MEDIC arrived shortly thereafter and pronounced the victim deceased on scene,” CMPD Major Dave Johnson said.
Tammy Carr is an employee at one of the plaza’s stores and was at work when the violence broke out.
“I kept hearing screaming, like on the phone, and it was like, I guess he was on the phone with the police, and he was like yelling and saying where he was,” she said.
Johnson told veteran crime reporter Glenn Count that the department has been following many leads to locate the suspected gunman.
Police say the shooting doesn’t seem to be a random act of violence, and it’s possible the victim knew the suspect.
Many of the victim’s family and friends came to the scene.
“Every death is tragic, but there are family and friends now that will forever associate Easter with the death of this young man, and our sympathy and prayers go out to the family and friends,” Johnson said.
This is not the first time a murder has happened at the shopping center; a grandmother was shot and killed while trying to use the ATM during a robbery.
Carr says the past two incidents have made her fear for her safety.
“It’s scary because I work over here by myself a lot of times late at night, and it’s really sad to see everybody crying.”
The officers do not have a specific suspect in mind and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
This is a developing story; check back at wsoctv.com for updates.
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