Police in Monroe say two children were shot, one was killed and one was taken to a hospital, during a “large street fight” Saturday evening.
The fight was reported on Skywatch Lane, which is in a neighborhood in the west side of Monroe off of Waxhaw Highway.
Police said officers were called for the fight around 6:30 p.m. Saturday and found a 12-year-old who had been shot. Officers then found out that before they got there, a 15-year-old had been shot and taken to a hospital.
Both of the victims had life-threatening injuries, police said. The 12-year-old, Messiah Barrino, died, police said Monday afternoon. The older teen is expected to recover.
Monroe police said the fight was not gang-related but was pre-arranged between two groups that had an ongoing feud.
“It’s kind of scary, actually,” said neighbor Delia Little on Sunday. (I have) never lived in a place that had bullets flying where I had to be worried about that.”
She lives next door to where the shooting happened and discovered bullet holes outside her house.
She told her mom to hit the floor when the gunfire erupted.
“I’m friendly enough with neighbors,” she said. “I am concerned. I know their son was unfortunately shot.”
Little said she had people over for Thanksgiving last week.
“Any one of us could’ve been standing and gotten shot,” Little said.
Another neighbor said there were two rounds of gunfire.
“I heard shots fired off, about three to four at first, really fast, then it went quiet,” said Aniyah Tate, a neighbor. “Then about five minutes later, maybe a little less, some more shots went off.”
The Monroe Police Department says they’re still investigating the shooting, but no information has been given on possible suspects.
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