3 people shot to death in Durham on Monday as assaults with guns rise
A Durham teen found fatally shot Monday was the city’s third homicide that day, police reported.
Police found Syncere Burrell, 18, shot inside a vehicle on Lincoln Street near Linwood Avenue after responding to a shooting call around 4 p.m. Monday. He was taken to the hospital, where he died.
The first shooting Monday was reported at 1:30 a.m. near the intersection of Jackson Street and Underwood Avenue. Officers found Joshua Lindsey, 21, dead at the scene.
The second shooting was reported around 6 a.m. at the intersection of Liberty and Elm streets. Officers found Reginald Bowling, 48, lying in the street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
One man has been arrested so far.
Malik Joseph, 22, of Durham was charged with murder in Lindsey’s death, according to a Durham Police Department news release.
Aggravated assaults with firearms rising
As of July 25, there were 18 homicides in Durham, according to Police Department statistics. In the same time period last year, there were 22.
There have been 283 reported aggravated assaults involving firearms in Durham this year, a 42% increase over the 199 reported incidents during the same time period last year, according to Police Department statistics.
The number of aggravated assaults involving firearms in 2020 has been higher than in 2018 and 2019 since the first week of the year. The number of shootings in Durham spiked in May, and has remained high since then. There were more than 10 reported shootings in 10 out of 13 weeks between April 25 and July 25.
The News & Observer asked to speak with Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis on Tuesday to discuss the surge of gun crime in the city, but the Police Department’s public information officer, Kammie Michael, said Davis was unavailable.
Durham is searching for alternative measures to curb gun violence. In a Tuesday meeting, city and county officials discussed a Community Safety and Wellness Task Force, proposed by Mayor Pro Tem Jillian Johnson in March, which will recommend community-based alternatives to policing and the criminal justice system.
“This proposal is not something that the council just came up with. This was brought to us by residents asking for us to do more around safety and also to do more around policing ... because there are such serious issues with violence in Durham,” Johnson said.
Last week, City Council member Mark-Anthony Middleton again asked the council to consider using ShotSpotter, a gunshot-detection system, after the company offered Durham a free, six-month trial period. The council will discuss the offer at a future meeting.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 12:39 PM with the headline "3 people shot to death in Durham on Monday as assaults with guns rise."