Two more EC shootings

Two more EC shootings reported
Reward for Graham increased to $5K
By DAVID MACAULAY
Staff Writer Daily Advance
Friday, April 27, 2007

The rash of shootings that has plagued Elizabeth City neighborhoods continued Wednesday night and early Thursday, with two separate incidents of gunfire reported.Police say someone fired eight gunshots at a house and car on Queen Street around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Four hours later, another 15 gunshots were fired at a mobile home at 108 Forrest Skipper Drive in the Meadowlands trailer park.No injuries were reported in either incident, but the two shootings, following on the heels of several others in the past week, have police worried."There has been a rash of these incidents over the last few nights. We are very concerned," Sgt. Mike Boone said Thursday.Police are still searching for Nathaniel Graham, an 18-year-old Zack Circle man who they believe has shot three men in the space of a week — two in Elizabeth City and one in Edenton. None of the shootings has resulted in a fatality as yet, but police are stepping up efforts to locate Graham. In addition to deploying additional manpower, they increased the local reward for information leading to his arrest from $2,000 to $5,000.Captain Frank Koch said police believe Graham is still in Elizabeth City. But it was not clear Thursday whether Graham had any connection to the two latest shooting incidents.Police also don't know yet what's caused the recent surge in shootings.Residents of neighborhoods where the shootings have occurred say they're frightened by the violence — but not enough to move elsewhere."I won't let them run me out of my house," said Tessie Banks, who lives at 108 Queen St.Banks, whose house and son's car were hit by bullets, said she has considered moving — but only because she's tired of the high utility bills in Elizabeth City.Banks believes those shooting at her house weren't aiming at anyone who lives there."It was nothing to do with anyone who lives at the house," she said. "There was a conflict between two people in the (nearby) church parking lot."Banks said her home had never been hit by gunfire in the eight years she's lived in it. But she and her daughter say they've heard gunfire every night this week."It's just crazy at the moment," she said.Ruby Blount is also new to the experience of having her house shot at. Tuesday night, Blount's house at 706 Walston Street was hit numerous times when Graham and two other men are believed to have fired at a fourth man on Southern Avenue.Drymont Spellman was hit by one of the five bullets fired at him, police said. He was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder.Blount's house and property were also hit in the gunfire. She showed a reporter Thursday where bullets entered both the side of her house and a garden fence, and where other bullets hit her garden and driveway."It sounded like a machine gun was going off," Blount said, recalling how she threw herself on the floor in an upstairs bedroom when the shooting started.Blount said she's lived in her home since 1970, but this is the first time it's ever been hit by gunfire."It's not the people in the neighborhood, but people coming into the area," she said.Anyone with any information about the whereabouts of Graham or those who took part in any of the recent shootings is asked to contact the Elizabeth City Police Department's Investigative Bureau at 335-9600 or Crime Line at 335-5555.

Two more EC shootings reported

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