Two shootings and an armed robbery made Kinston streets a dangerous place over the weekend.
Police have captured one shooter and are looking for two others as well as an armed robber.
A 15-year-old male is being held at the Pitt County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of possession of a deadly weapon with the intent to kill.
Kinston Public Safety Comdr. Greg Thompson said his department believes the boy shot 16-year-old Darrell Fizzell in the stomach while Fizzell was walking in the 1500 block of Stroud Avenue about 8 p.m. Friday.
The two boys had had an “altercation” a few days earlier, Thompson said, and the shooting likely was in retaliation for the incident. “The two met on the street and there was gunfire,” Thompson said.
Fizzell was taken to Lenoir Memorial Hospital and then airlifted to Pitt Memorial Hospital. He was released Monday afternoon.
An officer spotted the suspect in Lenoir County Courthouse on Monday, and arrested him. Thompson said the boy “is not new to the system. We’re very familiar with him.”
Investigators have been unable to discover where the boy got the gun he used or any other details about the shooting. The suspect is described as “very uncooperative.”
Thompson said the boy will be held at the detention center for five days. After that, another hearing will be held to determine whether to keep him in custody. The district attorney’s office could decide to charge the suspect as an adult, Thompson said.
- Alton Ray Sutton, 49, was the victim in the second shooting Friday. Sutton was shot in the chest by two men whom police still had not been identified Monday afternoon.
Sutton told officers he had just arrived at his home at 805 E. Washington Ave., and was walking to his bedroom when two men appeared, demanded money, and shot him. Three shots were fired, but only one struck Sutton. The men fled after the shooting.
Sutton was taken to Lenoir Memorial Hospital and then flown to Pitt Memorial Hospital where he was treated. He is listed in stable condition, but has not given police further details about the shooting or a description of his attackers.
Several people live in the Washington Avenue house. Thompson said investigators have not determined whether the men were visiting someone in the house, or were there to commit robbery.
- An armed man approached the manager and a deliveryman at Papa John’s Pizza, 1004 W. Vernon Ave., about 3 a.m. Saturday and ordered the men to hand over the night bank deposit bag and their wallets.
Witnesses told police the men had just closed the store and were walking to their cars parked near the front of the restaurant when they were approached by a black male carrying a handgun. The suspect was wearing a dark color hooded sweatshirt and a ski mask.
He reportedly struck the manager about the head with the gun, and fled on foot. The manager had minor injures and was treated and released from Lenoir Memorial Hospital.
Thompson said the restaurant has been robbed before, but this is the first such incident to occur recently.
Anyone with information on the shootings or the robbery is asked to call Crime Stoppers, 523-4444, where callers can leave a message and remain anonymous.
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