NORTHWEST, N.C. (WECT) – A teenager is one of two suspects charged in a gang- or robbery-related double homicide.
“I can sleep a little better now, myself,” said Interim Police Chief Scott Perez. “There’s not a day that went by during this investigation that I neither went to bed nor got up not thinking about new evidence I was trying to get.”
Perez says that with gangs operating in Wilmington and Charlotte, anyplace between the two can be the scene of gang-related activity.
Police in Greensboro helped arrest Christopher Banks, 20, of Leland. He’s in jail under no bond. Police in Charlotte helped arrest the other suspect, a 17-year-old. Both are charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle inflicting serious injury.
Investigators said it comes down to choosing a gang over the lives of others.
“We don’t know how they’re getting involved in this gang-related activity to the point where their lives don’t matter,” said Perez. “I don’t understand it and I don’t think the community does either.”
Both the victims of this incident were young as well. Desmond Radford was only 22 while Demetrius Gibbs was 29.
Perez spoke with the victims’ families this morning and they’re grateful for the hard work to arrest people they believe to be responsible.
“Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office arrived, got the scene under control. They did an excellent job,” said Perez. “The SBI was called in to assist. Excellent job with their investigators from Charlotte to Fayetteville to Greensboro, all over the state.”
The investigation is ongoing and Perez expects more arrests to come.
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