Hickory Police are investigating a shooting into a home owned by the parents of Republican congressional candidate Pat Harrigan, who is running in the 14th Congressional District that includes Mecklenburg and Gaston counties.
The shooting into the home’s laundry room happened between Oct. 16 and 18, according to the police report. Police have not made any arrests. No one was injured.
The Carolina Journal, a conservative publication, first reported the story Thursday.
Harrigan is running against Democrat Jeff Jackson in what has become a contentious race.
Jackson released a commercial Oct. 18 highlighting the fact that Harrigan is not from the district. It ended with Jackson standing in front of a lake house and shrugging. The Jackson campaign said that wasn’t Harrigan’s actual house.
Harrigan lives on Lake Hickory. His parent’s home, where the shooting occurred, is about four miles away and a block from the same lake.
Harrigan’s campaign did not mention the shooting publicly when it occurred, but a week later he posted aletter on Twitter saying the commercial crossed a line in that it targeted a “family domicile.”
In a statement released Thursday, Harrigan’s campaign said that Jackson’s “brand of politics” leads to “rampant crime — including political violence.”
Jackson's campaign released a statement Thursday saying it "fully supports law enforcement as they investigate this incident and believe any wrongdoing should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
It said that it removed the commercial about Harrigan's residency "out of an abundance of caution and concern."
The police report from the shooting was filed by Harrigan’s parents, who are on the deed of the home.
Jackson, a state senator from Charlotte, challenged Harrigan’s vote in Mecklenburg County in the May primary. During the campaign, Harrigan has rented an apartment in SouthPark, but his family lives in Hickory near his business, ZRODelta, which manufactures and sells handguns.
Congressional candidates do not have to live in their district. Jackson said Harrigan should not have been allowed to vote in Mecklenburg County.
The Mecklenburg Board of Elections last week voted 3-1 to reject Jackson’s challenge to Harrigan’s voter registration.
Meanwhile, Harrigan accused Jackson in a TV commercial of supporting domestic terrorists because he supported the American Rescue Plan, which provided stimulus checks to prisoners, including the Boston Marathon bomber. That money was later taken away.
Jackson issued a strong rebuke of that ad on his social media platforms, citing his own military service in Afghanistan.
