The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department says the number of shootings into occupied dwellings— such as homes and cars – is up. So far this year, there have been 760 homes or cars shot into. CMPD says that’s a 50% increase compared to this time last year.
Police say some of the violence is stemming from fights that start on social media and end in gunfire.
"Somebody feels disrespected and instead of having constructive communication to solve the problem they decide to go out and just shoot each other," said Lt. Andy Royston at a press conference Monday. "A lot of times they shoot at a house and that’s problematic because a lot of the houses they are hitting are innocent victims. Bullets don’t have a name on it, they don't have an address on it, they go and they hit innocent houses and innocent people which we’ve seen too many times in Charlotte."
Royston added Charlotte police believe the majority of these cases are not gang related.
