Scotland Neck police continue to investigate two related shootings early Sunday morning and made an arrest in one that occurred Saturday night.
The owner of the club where one of the Sunday morning shootings occurred was charged with ABC violations by state Alcohol Law Enforcement, town police Chief Joe Williams said today.
The first Sunday morning shooting occurred shortly before 2:30 in the upstairs room of Joe Day’s Cafe.
Benjamin Parker was shot multiple times below the waist and investigators found four empty .45-caliber shell casings on the floor.
Parker was transported to Our Community Hospital and then airlifted to Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville. He has had four surgeries since the shooting but has not been left paralyzed.
Investigation by Sergeant Marcus Ruffin shows Dequan Pittman, a member of the United Blood Nation, may be traveling between Rocky Mount, Tarboro, Enfield and Scotland Neck.
He lives in the Edwards Fork area of Scotland Neck and faces a charge of assault with intent to kill.
Williams said officers believe Pittman may be wearing body armor. Rocky Mount police issued warrants for his arrest for the robbery of a grocery store last Friday and Edgecombe County investigators obtained warrants for his arrest for the robbery of two people in the Leggett community.
Pittman is considered armed and dangerous.
Asked why Pittman may be wearing body armor, Williams said, “For the same reason we do. He’s been shot and (allegedly) robbing stores and flashing guns.”
The morning of the Joe Day’s Cafe shooting, Pittman was apparently out of control, getting into an argument with the victim, snatching a cigarette out of his mouth before the shooting.
Day, the owner of the cafe where Williams said no food is served, was charged with operating a business without a proper privilege license and ALE agents charged him with ABC violations.
Williams said 30 minutes after the nightclub shooting, officers responded to another shooting in the 1300 block of Greenwood Street, which is believed to be related to the first Sunday morning shooting.
The victim was shot in the face, walked into Our Community Hospital and was later transferred to Pitt where he was released the next day.
Police are looking for Tony Williams, an associate of Pittman’s, in that shooting.
That investigation led police to also arrest 17-year-old Demonte Lloyd for possession of a firearm under 21.
Saturday shooting
Williams said on Saturday around 7 p.m. officers arrested Demarcus Bridges for allegedly firing shots at people’s feet. He was charged with going armed to the terror of the public, discharging a firearm in the city limits, assault by pointing a gun, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Officer Mike Harrell arrested Bridges at gunpoint as he was walking out of a wooded near East Eighth Street where the shooting occurred.
Captain Jessie Fernandez retraced Bridges’s steps and recovered a .308-caliber pistol.
Bridges remains in the Halifax County Jail on $75,000 bond.
