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Scotland Neck Shootings Add to Worrisome Pattern

Two 17-year-olds were hit by gunfire Monday night, and a 19-year-old was charged Tuesday in the small town's third recent shooting.

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SCOTLAND NECK, N.C. — The tiny town of Scotland Neck in Halifax County normally doesn't see much violent crime. The police chief estimates there once was one shooting every five years.

Now, there have been three in about a month, the latest Monday night.

“We have a lot of people in this town. We have a lot of good people. We also have some that refuse to go out and get a job, want to hang out on the street and cause problems for everybody else,” Police Chief Doug Pilgreen said Tuesday.

The Monday shooting happened in the 900 block of Chestnut Street. Police said two 17-year-old boys were shot.

Dequan Pittman and DeAndre Smith were flown to Pitt Memorial Hospital. Their conditions were unknown Tuesday.

Thaddeus Williams, 19, turned himself in Tuesday. Police charged him with attempted murder and held him in lieu of $1 million bond.

Shirley Speaght said she saw the incident happen from her front porch.

“I mean, I thought they were just talking to each other first, then I know they're getting ready to fight, so I just called 9-1-1,” Speaght said.

Two weeks earlier, there was a police shootout at the EP Mart convenience store.

In that case, authorities charged, Wardell Johnson shot and killed Mack Moody. Johnson, officials said Tuesday, is Thaddeus Williams’ father.

Earlier, a fight outside Joe's Day Cafe led to another shooting, police said.

“It appears there's a little battle going on among some people in the city limits there,” Halifax Sheriff Jeff Frazier said.

Police are looking into whether the three incidents are related in any way.

Police and those who live in the 2,500 person town said they've never seen anything like this before in Scotland Neck, and officers said they’ll need the public’s help to fight it.

Residents, Pilgreen said, should be “calling things in when they first start, calling in suspicious activity.”

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