‘Tragically, violent weekend’: Charlotte police report four homicides in less than 24 hours; latest fatal shooting at Coyote Joe’s

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY/WNCN) — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) is investigating its fourth homicide in less than 24 hours after a man was shot dead in the parking lot of Coyote Joe’s in west Charlotte early Sunday morning.

According to CMPD, around 1:25 a.m., off-duty officers working in the 4600 block of Wilkinson Blvd. responded to the sound of shots fired in the parking lot. The officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Medic.

A WJZY photojournalist who went to the scene reported the incident took place in the parking lot of Coyote Joe’s.

“This has been a particularly, and tragically, violent weekend in Charlotte with four homicides in less than four hours. That’s four victims, that’s four families who are grieving,” said Major Dave Johnson with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

The start to the violent weekend came early Saturday morning when officers responded to a deadly assault from blunt force trauma after an altercation on the 1300 block of Wembley Drive.

“Know that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is working hard in every one of these cases to bring closure and bring justice to these families that are hurting and grieving this weekend over senseless, unnecessary violence. We won’t rest and we won’t stop until we find justice for these families and these victims,” Johnson added.

The deaths began around 5 p.m. on Saturday, when CMPD said they were investigating two fatal shootings. One on the 5600 block of North Graham Street in northeast Charlotte and the other on the 100 block of Park Fairfax Drive in west Charlotte.

The four killings come after the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police requested “federal assistance” to deal with crime in the city earlier this month.

The group sent a letter on October 2, noting 15 killings in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department coverage area since national attention came to the city with the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.

The young woman was stabbed to death on the city’s light rail system by a suspect who many say should not have been out on the streets. The Oct. 2 letter from Lodge 9 of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police said downtown Charlotte (referred to locally as Uptown) was experiencing “a triple-digit percentage increase in homicides.”

The police group said they represent 1,690 officers and requested help “through federal and National Guard support.”

Anyone with information in any of these cases can call a CMPD detective at 704-432-8477 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.