1 dead, 1 critical, 2 wounded in shootout at uptown Charlotte apartment building, cops say

A 24-year-old man was fatally shot and three others wounded in a shootout at a party early Wednesday at an uptown Charlotte apartment building, police said.

Investigators have not released the victims’ names, but said a 16-year-old was in critical condition.

“Our message to the public is that our detectives are out with a suspect, so there is no longer a threat,” CMPD Capt. Rob Dance said at the news conference at CMPD headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said they found Calvin Haines dead in a stairwell of the building along with two other shooting victims. Medic declared Haines dead at the scene.

Police have not released the suspect’s name or age but suggested he and the victims were attending an event at 305 N. Graham St.

The victims treated at the hospital are 22, 19 and 16 years old, Dance said.

The violence started when two people began arguing and one pulled out a gun and fired, Dance said. Another person then pulled out a gun and fired. Dance declined to say if the second person was firing in self defense.

Police found only one gun at the scene.

Dance described the party as a “summer kick-off event” but declined to say who police believe organized the party. He declined to estimate how many people were at the event. He said the crowd included high-school aged teens. He declined to say which high school.

No one from the management office at the building returned a phone message from the Observer requesting comment about the shooting.

The mother of a teen who attended the party told WCNC “it was a graduation party for students from Mallard Creek High School.” The party turned violent when someone was denied admission, the station reported.

More than 50 people have died in homicides this year in Charlotte.

At a news conference in April, CMPD Capt. Chris Dozier said there is “no rhyme or reason” that could explain why the number of killings has tripled. He said some of the violence was prompted by arguments that grew out of control and that the vast majority of homicides this year involved guns, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

“People (are) resorting to firearms ... for what we, doing investigations, determine are fairly minor arguments or disagreements that just become worse and worse and blow up into what eventually becomes a homicide,” Dozier said at the time.

Wednesday’s violence was yet another example of that, CMPD spokesman Rob Tufano said.

“It’s getting frustrating,” he said. “It’s getting downright tragic.”

This story was originally published June 12, 2019 at 6:28 AM with the headline "1 dead, 1 critical, 2 wounded in shootout at uptown Charlotte apartment building, cops say."