2 detained after 12 shooting incidents of cars, homes on and around I-40 in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. — Raleigh police are now investigating shots fired into eight cars and four houses, a growing total in the recent series of rush-hour shootings along Interstate 40 and near I440.

Police Chief Estella Patterson announced two “persons of interest” were detained Thursday afternoon, both of them from Kentford Court in southwest Raleigh.

Officers responded to a single gunshot fired into a man’s car door on Trailwood Drive Thursday morning, causing no injuries but driving residents’ fear of victims being targeted at random.

“We understand the community is concerned and fear naturally follows in an event of this magnitude,” Patterson said in a news conference.

The shots fired Thursday happened just before 9 a.m. in the 1500 block of Trailwood, which sits about half a mile from I-40 and near the Gorman Street exit, where one of the earlier shootings occurred.

Police later reported a second Trailwood Drive car shooting, and multiple houses were included in the investigation.

Raleigh Deputy Chief Rico Boyce said at the Trailwood Drive scene Thursday that the department had “no credible information” yet that the shooting is connected to any others. But Patterson confirmed at Thursday’s news conference that the shootings were linked.

“I want to ensure the community that we are doing all we can as the city of Raleigh to keep our citizens safe,” Boyce said.

The first two shootings came Monday near Cary Towne Boulevard, where one woman was hit in the leg, and later near Buck Jones Road.

Four more cars were shot Wednesday, the first three at Trinity Road, Avent Ferry Road and Cary Towne Boulevard near I-40, and the last at Jones Franklin Road and Capital Center Drive.

The police list Trailwood Drive as the seventh vehicle shooting this week. They are also investigating a string of shots fired into Raleigh homes: 2400 block of Centennial Ridge Way, 3200 block of Shire Lane and two on the 2000 block of Wolf Tech Lane.

“The Raleigh Police Department continues to investigate these incidents and has focused our resources on identifying the person or persons responsible,” Senior Detective Christopher Gay said in a news release Thursday. “We will continue to work with our Federal, State, and local law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of those traveling on our streets and highways.”

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. Contact Raleigh Police Department at 919-996-3335 or visit Crimestoppers at www.raleighcrimestoppers.org and click on “Leave a Tip” in the top right corner of the page.

Police said they believed the weapon used was a handgun.

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