And so it begins - 30,000 riot in Charlotte NC, 1 dead, another shot, 70 arrested

Charlotte NC - Uptown chaos leaves 1 dead
Second person wounded in gunfire. Police arrest 70 people two hours after Speed Street ends.

By David Perlmutt and Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
[email protected], [email protected]
Posted: Monday, May. 30, 2011
One person was fatally shot and another wounded early Sunday after several hours of trouble in uptown Charlotte that ended with police trying to break up crowds and making 70 arrests.

The shootings took place shortly after 1 a.m. across 3rd Street from the Hilton hotel, two hours after Food Lion Speed Street had closed. Antwan Terrell Smith, 22, was shot in the head and died at the scene. Durante Kavon James, also 22, was shot in the leg and taken to Carolinas Medical Center, where he was in stable condition late Sunday.

The gunfire followed reports of unrest - which police say could be gang-related - centered largely around the Charlotte Transit Center between 4th and Trade streets. The charges were one of the city's largest mass arrests in memory.

The trouble comes 15 months before Charlotte hosts the 2012 Democratic National Convention - which likely will ensure close scrutiny of what happened.

The core of DNC events will take place at Time Warner Cable Arena and the Charlotte Convention Center. They are blocks from the shooting scene and the Charlotte Transit Center, where police were sent early Sunday to disperse large groups, according to Charlotte Mecklenburg police spokesman Officer Robert Fey.

Former Mecklenburg County commissioner Dan Murrey, chairman of the DNC's local host committee, said Sunday he's confident that appropriate security measures will be in place for the convention.

"I have a lot of confidence that over the course of the next year of preparations - between local, state and federal law enforcement - that downtown Charlotte will be very safe and secure for the convention effort," Murrey said.

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx called the incidents "very unfortunate" and the shootings "horrible," but said it would have no impact on the DNC.

"That's an entirely different event with a lot of other players involved in security," Foxx said. "I think people understand a city is a city. And we move forward, and we are always trying to improve the model of safety for people who live in this community.

"I think our track record in terms of overall crime statistics suggests we are working hard to get there."

Foxx, too, said the city is up to the task of securing the convention. "It's a continual effort," he said. "I think our city's going to do just fine."

Groups started confrontations

Early Sunday, groups of 50 or more people "began confronting each other" and refused to leave as police closed in around the transit center, Fey said.

Police arrested 70 people, including 15 juveniles, he said. Most arrests were for disorderly conduct, fighting, assault and impeding traffic.

The melee was one of the worst in Charlotte's uptown since violence broke out among large crowds after a Fourth of July fireworks show in 2006. In the years that followed, police cracked down heavily on uptown revelers during major events, arresting 169 people during July 4 celebrations in 2007.

At the time of the incidents, officers said the troublemakers were flashing gang signs, challenging officers and other people and attempting to block sidewalks and streets, Fey said.

Police said large crowds - as many as 30,000 people - gathered in and around the transit center after Speed Street ended at 11 p.m.

more...

[link to www.charlotteobserver.com]