Goldsboro man dies after city's fourth shooting in five days

Police Chief Michael West said someone drove the person shot to an area hospital. Then, authorities airlifted the person to the ECU Medical Center in Greenville for further treatment.

Posted 5:29 p.m. Jun 20, 2022 — Updated 11:06 a.m. Jun 21, 2022

Keenan Willard

, WRAL eastern North Carolina reporter

GOLDSBORO, N.C. — Witnesses and community leaders in Goldsboro are calling for new action to address the recent string of violence.

Monday morning marked the the fourth shooting since June 16 in the city. Three people have been hospitalized in critical condition due to the shootings.

"As a community, we have to address this and say that this is unacceptable," said community organizer Mark Colebrook, who has lived in Goldsboro for two decades.

Cleveland Ward, 44, died at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville after Monday's morning shooting near East Holly Street and North Andrews Avenue, according to the Goldsboro Police Department. The case has shifted to a homicide investigation.

Police Chief Michael West said someone drove Ward to an area hospital. Then authorities airlifted Ward to Greenville for further treatment.

Officers arrived around 10:11 a.m. Monday at the scene after receiving a notification from their ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, West said.

On Monday, WRAL News spoke with neighbors about what happened and how they'd like to see community leaders address the recent violence.

"The question of why, why are we having it all of a sudden?" Colebrook said.

Charles Webster is a neighbor who witnessed Monday's shooting.

"I heard the pop, pop, pop, pop, five or six shots, and I said, 'Now that ain’t firecrackers,'" Webster said. "[I] looked out the window and saw two men with a red car shooting pistols."

Webster said the shooting happened down the street from where he lives.

"I'm glad nobody got hurt over here," Webster said. "That's the main thing, that my neighbors didn't get shot."

The investigation from Monday's shooting is ongoing.

Three other shootings in the last week in Goldsboro

Early Sunday morning, Goldsboro police responded to a shooting that left two people injured. Felicia Davis, 42, and Gregory McDuffie, 34, were taken to Wayne UNC Health Care by EMS. McDuffie was treated at Wayne UNC Health Care and was later discharged. Davis was transferred to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville. Police said her last known condition was critical.

2 injured, 1 critically, after shooting in Goldsboro

On June 16, a child was shot in the stomach during a drive-by shooting. Legend Armstrong, 2, had to have the bullet removed from his stomach at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville.

'They started shooting from a car': Young child hospitalized after drive-by shooting in Goldsboro

Also on June 16, Goldsboro police said a woman shot in the arm was an innocent bystander. According to the police, occupants of a car and a pedestrian exchanged gunfire. The woman told police she was sitting on her front porch when she was shot by a stray bullet. The woman received treatment at Wayne UNC Healthcare and has been discharged.