5 gunshot wounds, 4 days, 3 shootings: Rocky Mount police say ongoing feud could be driving surge in gun violence
Five men have been injured in three Rocky Mount shootings since Tuesday connected to an ongoing feud, according to the Rocky Mount Police Department.
The first shooting took place on Tuesday in the 600 block of Buena Vista Avenue. That injured two men. Then on Wednesday, two men were shot near L&L Food Store at the 3500 block of Hunter Hill Road.
Police believe each shooting may have been in retaliation for the last, according to the police department. Most of the gunshot victims have been also been suspected shooters.
Jermel Lynch, 33, was charged with two counts of attempted murder. Myron Lynch, 28, and Daquan Lynch, 23, were each charged with two counts of attempted murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle and assault with a deadly weapon. All three of the men are brothers, according to police.
Police said the shootings were not connected to gang activity.
The most recent shooting happened Friday at 9 a.m. on the 1000 block of Western Avenue. Jaquan Scott, 22, was shot in the leg, according to witnesses.
Scott was sitting inside a vehicle with Daquan Lynch, who was out on bond for his role in the previous shooting. Police believe he was the target of Friday's shooting.
Neighbors in the residential area where the shooting happened said that Scott was helped into a house nearby minutes before police arrived. Witnesses said that this neighborhood is usually quiet, and there hasn't been a shooting in this area for as long as they could remember.
"Anybody could have been hit," said Christopher Bryant, who was inside his home nearby when he heard gunshots. "We sit on the porch. My kids will be out here playing in the yard. They could have gotten hit or something like that. It just scares me. It scares me."
Since Saturday, seven people have been injured in shootings in Rocky Mount. Two of those injuries were not related to the ongoing feud, police said.
"I thought it was about to come through my window," Bryant said. "I told my kids get down, and my daughter, she started praying and stuff. I mean I was scared."
