Police seek suspect and offer reward after series of shootings in Charlotte, North Carolina

Police in North Carolina are searching for a suspect in connection with a series of five shootings in the Charlotte area. Officials believe they are related.

Police responded to the first reported shooting at about 1:05 a.m. Tuesday, July 9. A man in his vehicle had a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim, identified by CBS News affiliate WBTV as Mustaffa Muhammad, 58, was believed to have been shot by a passing motorist, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.

Over the next half hour, several more shootings were reported. A bicyclist called police to say he was shot at around 1:09 a.m., and another victim’s car was hit by gunfire “a short time later.” Neither person was injured.

Officers also responded to a party where a group of people said a person in a vehicle fired several shots in their direction around 1:11 a.m. No one at the party was shot, but a nearby home was hit and a woman inside the home sustained injuries that were not life-threatening.

At 1:25 a.m., police responded to another report of a bicyclist who had been shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Another home nearby had been hit by gunfire, but no injuries were reported.

The injured woman and the cyclist were both taken to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, police said.

Due to the time and location of the reported shootings, police believe the incidents “may be related.” Police have not yet publicly identified a possible suspect, and no arrests have been made. There is no information about the weapons used.

“It’s nerve-wracking. You know, the thought that someone could just drive by, or, you know, if we’re driving somewhere, someone could do something like that to us or our children,” an anonymous parent told WBTV.

The department told WBTV it is following up on tips received Wednesday afternoon and is offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.

A press conference is expected to take place on Thursday afternoon.