Child, 4 others injured in drive-by shootings in Halifax County, police say

SCOTLAND NECK, N.C. (WNCN) – Five people, including a child, were wounded in two shootings Tuesday afternoon in Halifax County, authorities said.

Scotland Neck police responded to 13th and Greenwood streets around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. They said the suspect appeared to have used an assault rifle in a drive-by shooting.

When police arrived, they found two gunshot victims in a vehicle and two gunshot victims on the porch of 306 East 13th Street. 

The four victims, including a 6-year-old child, who were all critically wounded, were taken to Pitt Memorial Hospital. As of about 8 p.m. Tuesday they were all undergoing surgery.

Kassia Blanding says her cousin Corey Day was one of the shooting victims.  

“My [other] cousin kept calling me and she was like, ‘a lot of people just got shot on your block.’ She was like, ‘and Corey got shot,’” she recalled.

Blanding said her cousin was in the neighborhood visiting friends and the two had just been out shopping together.

“I just seen him; it wasn’t even an hour,” she said.

Blanding asked anyone with information to come forward, saying,  “You can leave a number. You can be anonymous.”

The suspect vehicle is a white Dodge Charger with a spoiler, police said.

“Our officers increased patrol in this area because it is a known drug area and there have been several complaints in the past week,” Scotland Neck Police Chief John Tippett said in a news release. “It’s one thing for adults to have conflicts, but I will not tolerate anyone hurting or shooting innocent children.”

While authorities were investigating the shooting in Scotland Neck, another shooting was reported along N.C. 903 on the other side of Hobgood Road. Police believe the same suspect vehicle was involved in that shooting.

The victim in the second shooting is being treated at Martin General Hospital in Williamston.

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office responded to the second shooting.