HAMLET — A weekend shooting —the third with serious injuries within the past month — has police saying the county’s second-largest municipality has a gang problem.
Officers discovered a man had been shot three times late Saturday night after responding to a call at 422 Spring Street, according to the Hamlet Police Department. The call came in around 11:33.
The victim, whose name has not yet been released, remains at an undisclosed hospital in critical condition and was supposed to go into surgery Monday morning, said Detective Lt. Randy Dover.
The incident occurred at the home of a man who was shot in the parking lot of the Hamlet Food Mart last Thursday. That victim also remains hospitalized.
Dover told the Daily Journal last week he believes a recent uptick in criminal activity to be gang-related. His suspicions seemed to be confirmed with the latest incident after he said gang graffiti was found on a vehicle at the scene.
While police have been able to identify suspects in the past two shootings, that’s not the case with the latest.
“We have no clues, no suspects, no nothing,” Dover said.
However, a man wanted in one of the other shootings was apprehended over the weekend.
Brian Devonte Dowdy, 21, was arrested by Laurinburg police on Saturday.
Dowdy, also known as “Billy Juice,” is accused of shooting 21-year-old Diquon Cox twice at the Hamlet Food Mart on May 9.
According to Laurinburg Police Chief Darwin Williams, officers responded to a call about a shooting at the Scotland Inn at 11:09 p.m. on Saturday. Upon arrival, officers found a .40-caliber shell casing in the room.
After detaining the only man in the room, investigators found that a bullet had passed through a telephone and was lodged in the wall, Williams said.
Dowdy — who initially told police his name was Devonte Quick — was taken to the Scotland County magistrate’s office, the chief said. While he was being processed, police discovered Dowdy’s real name.
Online court records show Dowdy is facing a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, as well as misdemeanor charges of larceny and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in Richmond County.
He is also facing misdemeanor charges of injury to personal property and discharging a firearm in city limits, in addition to a traffic infraction of giving fictitious information to an officer, in Scotland County.
He is currently in the Scotland County Jail under a $56,000 secured bond.
Hamlet police are still searching for 28-year-old Glen Joseph McCray, wanted for last week’s shooting.
Dover said McCray is known to hang out around Spring Street and in Dobbins Heights.
Police have obtained arrest warrants charging him with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon.
McCray was released from prison in February following a September 2014 conviction on two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction. His parole is scheduled to end Feb. 5, 2017.
Police also have an outstanding warrant for a 16-year-old involved in a shooting on Washington Avenue. In that case, Dover said three suspects were firing at each other, but no one was hit.
The detective said he doesn’t know who the other two suspects are because “people will not talk.”
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of McCray, or who may have information pertaining to the other crimes is encouraged to call the Hamlet Police Department at 910-582-2551 or Richmond County Crime Stoppers at 910-997-5454.
Reach William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.