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CHARLOTTE — A 16-year-old and an 18-year-old have been arrested for a shooting spree across Charlotte early Tuesday morning, the Charlotte- Mecklenburg Police Department said. Investigators said they aren’t looking for any additional suspects in the case.

Channel 9 first broke the news from sources on Thursday afternoon.

In a news conference Thursday, CMPD Deputy Chief Tonya Arrington said the arrests were a result of “good old-fashioned police work.” She said the two suspects were charged for the five different shootings which happened in
about 30 minutes.

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According to Arrington, officers were proactively patrolling Thursday
morning on Nations Ford Road when they found a car that was suspicious and pulled it over. The 16-year-old was driving the car and officers found a
stolen firearm inside. They also found shell casings inside the car.

Investigators used forensic evidence to confirm he was one of the suspects
and charged him with first-degree murder, Arrington said. He was taken to
the Department of Juvenile Justice and more charges will likely be filed against him.

Arrington said police believe the teen planned to continue his crime spree.

After his arrest, detectives identified a second suspect in the
investigation and arrested him Thursday with the FBI’s help. CMPD said 18- year-old Carlos Roberto Diaz faces charges of first-degree murder, felony conspiracy to commit murder, five counts of attempted murder, two counts of shots into an occupied vehicle, two counts of shots into an occupied
dwelling, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

Arrington said detectives have forensically linked three of the shootings together. She also said police have no additional suspects at this time.

CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings touched on the suspects’ ages, saying youth crime in Charlotte is a serious issue.

“Juvenile crime continues to be an issue, not just in our city, but across our entire country,” Jennings said. “And if we can’t provide resources, if
we can’t break the cycle of violent criminal behavior with our young people, then our future is not very bright for the safety of our citizens within our community.”

Timeline
A deadly shooting at about 1:05 a.m. on Statesville Avenue started the 30- minute rampage, officials with CMPD said. Mustaffa Muhammad, 58, was shot
and killed inside his car on Statesville Avenue. Loved ones said he was returning home from work.

Then at about 1:09 a.m., someone shot at a bicyclist near the intersection
of Newland Road and LaSalle Street. Just after that, officers found a victim who said his vehicle was shot while he was driving on LaSalle Street near Interstate 77. Neither of those victims were hurt.

At about 1:11 a.m., someone in a vehicle shot at a group in the 2100 block
of Catherine Simmons Avenue. Rounds were also shot into an apartment,
hitting a female, CMPD said. She was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Then at about 1:25 a.m., a gunman shot a bicyclist riding on Nations Ford
Road in southwest Charlotte. The victim had non-life-threatening injuries. A round struck an apartment building on Kingsford Drive, as well.

Chief Jennings commended his officers Thursday for making the arrests within
48 hours of the crimes.

“These were brazen crimes. These were crimes that put our community at risk and created a safety hazard for our community,” Jennings said.

“These quick arrests -- within 48 hours of just talking about these -- these quick arrests are truly a testament to the dedication that our officers have every single day,” he said.

The 16-year-old was arrested near Laticia Sandoval’s neighborhood. Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz met her Wednesday as she showed him her apartment riddled by bullets in one of the shootings. One bullet flew over her daughter as she slept.

On Thursday, Sáenz called her and broke the news of the arrest.

“I’m happy because, imagine this, I haven’t been able to sleep. I haven’t
had peace until now,” she said.

Police said they’re still working to uncover the shooters’ motives.

“We’re still asking the same questions. Why would two juveniles engage in this type of behavior on random victims?” Arrington said.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/16-year-old-arrested-shooting-spree- across-charlotte-sources-say/PPJ7RJYESFBQ7I7H4ZPU65HRKU/

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