4 shot in NC, 17-year-old arrested: Chief says 'guns are way too accessible for our young people'
Authorities in North Carolina responded to a mall in Gastonia on Friday after three people were shot.
"Detectives from the Gastonia Police Department (GPD) have arrested and charged a 17-year-male with multiple felony offenses related to a multi-victim shooting that occurred this afternoon at the Eastridge Mall," the department announced. "Investigators have now determined that all the victims were shot in the mall parking lot and that the victims fled inside to the food court area of the mall after being shot. Detectives have also now determined that a male victim, who was believed to have been the fourth person shot in this incident and who self-transported to a hospital in Charlotte, was not shot during the Eastridge Mall incident. This individual is now believed to have been shot in a neighboring jurisdiction."
Also on Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Johnny Jennings sat down for an exclusive interview with WBTV.
“Access to guns and firearms is out there and this is nothing that I’m going any stance on the second amendment or anything like that, but the fact is that guns are way too accessible for our young people today. I’ve had kids tell me that they can have a gun in their hands in a couple of hours if they wanted to get a firearm and that’s disturbing and it’s very concerning to us as law enforcement,” he warned.
Jennings offered advice for reducing youth gun violence.
“One thing that we have to do is continue to try and get the guns off the streets. We have to educate adults on securing their firearms because some of these firearms are actually being stolen and then they’re put on the market for these young kids to have access to, so as we move into the summer, we have a lot of initiatives that we’re gonna be specifically looking at illegal guns out in our streets,” explained Jennings.
Watch:
Leave a Comment
Related Post