The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department told reporters Tuesday that uptown is still a safe place, even after a shooting that occurred in the center city earlier this week.
Seventy-four-year-old John Holaday, the CEO of DisposeRX, a Sanford, North Carolina, company that sells materials to dissolve unused prescription drugs, was shot around 4 p.m. Monday. He was walking by the Epicentre when police say a fight broke out. CMPD arrested 16-year-old Raheem Shacklette from Georgia as the suspect in the shooting. He has been charged with attempted murder and possession of a stolen firearm.
Captain Julie Barry said questions have surfaced regarding the safety of the center city. Barry said multiple times that uptown is safe.
"This is not about location," Barry said. "Charlotte is facing the same struggles that any large metropolitan city is facing right now when young people are making these really bad decisions. So it’s not the location it’s just these people who are making bad decisions trying to settle a verbal argument or a small physical argument with gun fire."
CMPD says as of Tuesday morning Holaday remains in critical condition. The investigation is ongoing.
CMPD later released that three men were arrested and charged with simple affray -- which is fighting with at least one person in a public place that disturbs the peace -- in an additional physical altercation prior to the shooting. Those charged were: 17-year-old Taizojh Smith, 19-year-old Hazeem Shacklette and 20-year-old Ulondis Edwards.
