Scotland Neck police and the Halifax County Sheriff's Office are investigating three shootings in a 12-hour period in the same area.

The rash of shootings began Monday, Scotland Neck police Chief John Tippette said.

An adult male was shot in the back at the second shooting which happened in the 500 block of East Eighth Street. He was flown by EastCare to Greenville and is expected to make a full recovery.

Tippette said the first shooting occurred just outside the town limits on Highway 903, near the housing projects. 

That shooting resulted in another retaliation shooting 20 minutes later. Officers and deputies were one block over and arrived within seconds to find one male shot.

There was an extensive search in a near-by wooded area by Scotland Neck officers, Halifax County deputies, North Carolina Wildlife officers as well as the North Carolina Forest Service and Edgecombe County Emergency Services.

A drone with infrared technology was deployed during the search.

Officers observed suspects running from the second shooting into the wooded area.

Information obtained from the scene resulted in a traffic stop where three juveniles were detained. One juvenile has been charged with attempted murder and other arrests are pending.

A third shooting took place later in the night in the same area. A house was struck several times and there were no reported injuries.

“Our most recent shootings are all related to a homicide that occurred in Enfield in December of 2020 involving (people) who were then juveniles of Scotland Neck, and the victim was an Enfield resident.”   

Tippette said these shootings are related to a quarrel between the defendants in that case as well as the state's witnesses since 2020 in an attempt to eliminate the witness testifying in court.

“It is likely these shootings will continue as long as victims and witnesses remain silent,” Tippette said. “Ninety percent of calls we get, as well as the county, where witnesses observe these incidents, advise the dispatchers, they do not want to speak with law enforcement.  

We believe this ultimately is a result of witnesses not wanting to be involved, due to the time it takes for the courts to process cases, as well as retaliation against witnesses, which is exactly what is going on with this case.”

Tippette said the violence is expected to continue “until the juvenile counseling services and the courts impose harsher punishment for these types of crimes. Law enforcement agencies all over the country are running into issues where numerous man hours, days, weeks, and even months and/or years are going into investigations to bring justice to victims and their families

and the defendants are being released, with little, to no consequences.”

Said the police chief: “It is very unfortunate that it has come to this, but something must be done on the state and federal level. We have made several arrests in the past and it will be up to the courts to decide how important safety is in our community.”

Tippette said from time to time there will be a strong law enforcement presence in the area. “This is part of our commitment to keep you as safe as possible. We will also continue to work with surrounding agencies to find a solution.”

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the police department at 252-826-4112 or Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.

The P3 Tips app is also available for anonymous reporting of crimes.