Six people, including 2-year-old, shot in Durham in two overnight shootings

Six people were shot in Durham last night. Two people have life threatening injuries, including a 2-year-old girl.

The shootings were part of two incidents that happened less than five miles apart within a span of a few hours.

The first shooting happened around 8:15 p.m. on Thursday in the 1400 block of Cornwallis Road south of downtown. Three people were shot, including a 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman who had minor injuries. A 2-year-old girl also sustained life-threatening injuries.

A few hours later, three more people were shot around 3:30 a.m. along Fayetteville Street. Two men and one woman were found with gunshot wounds. Both men are expected to be okay, but the woman has life-threatening injuries.

A man who lives in the area told WRAL News he hears so much gunfire he didn't even notice anything unusual.

The violence here has changed how he lives in his home.

"I move to the back of my house. I stay upstairs. I moved to the living room area, so hopefully no shots come through my front room," said Jerry Smith, a Durham resident.

So far, there have been no arrests in either case.

More than 100 people shot in Durham so far this year, surpassing previous year totals

Durham's Mayor Leo Williams, who is at a mayor's conference in Kansas City, woke up to this news and said he was extremely frustrated by the gun-violence in his city.

Williams says he still believes the city can curb this gun violence, but it will take a concerted effort by everyone.

"There was a lady's home who does re-entry, and her home was shot up last night; her headboard was riddled with bullets, six inches from someone's head who was a resident in her home," he said. "I woke up. I'm in Kansas City, I spoke to her this morning and she said, 'Mayor Williams, I want to do whatever I can to help you curb this gun violence in our city. That's what gives me hope."

Williams says he will continue to apply political pressure and reach out to the community for help in reducing gun violence.

So far this year, 122 people have been shot in Durham. The City of Durham reported 112 people have been shot as of June 8. Since then, WRAL News has reported an additional 10 people who have been shot in Durham. So far this year, the city has already surpassed the number of people shot in both 2022 and 2023. In 2022, 104 people were shot in Durham, and 76 were shot in 2023.