State of emergency, nightly curfew issued for Scotland Neck after string of shootings

The town of Scotland Neck is under a state of emergency and a temporary nightly curfew in place after multiple shootings in a span of only a few days.

According to Mayor Eddie Braxton, the curfew started at 9 p.m. on Friday and ends at 6 a.m. Thursday.

"I have determined that a state of emergency exists in the town of Scotland Neck due to an increase in violent crime, particularly gun violence," Braxton said.

On Wednesday at 6 p.m., police and deputies responded to the 200 block of East 13th Street, where a young male was found in a car suffering from non-life-threatening gunshot wounds to the thigh. According to police, the actual shooting occurred near Grace Street and East 10th Street.

On Thursday before 2 p.m., another young male was shot and found lying in the front yard of a home in the same area. He is also expected to recover.

The same night around 9 p.m., multiple people shot at Scotland Neck officers and a Halifax County deputy in the area of West 12th Street. Several officers were nearly struck by gunfire, but no one was injured.

"We heard about 10 or more shots," said Lisa Peterson, a neighbor close to the shooting.

Multiple agencies chased a suspect by foot. One man was arrested on Church Street, and a gun was seized. Peterson saw the chase unfold from her home.

"They were all over the place. it was almost like a SWAT team is what it looked like," Peterson explained.

Braxton said extra agencies were brought into assist with enforcement of the curfew, as the Scotland Neck Police Department only has three full-time police officers.

Police said the shootings are all related and all involve young men. Interim Police Chief T. Parker said the shootings are connected to one another.

“These are related incidents, and the individuals involved are typically males between the ages of 15 to 25," said Interim Chief T. Parker. "We’ve been dealing with juveniles and retaliative shootings for a year. It is clear that all of the individuals involved in these violent incidents have no regard for innocent life or property and that’s a huge concern. Most of the people in this community have absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing feud and they are the true victims."

As of Friday evening, the only person in custody is the man who shot at police. Braxton is hoping the curfew help find more of those responsible and can help save lives.

"The odds are at some point if these young men keep getting shot, somebody’s going to get shot dead," Braxton said.

Peterson said while the spike in crime is concerning, she doesn't want people to think Scotland Neck, a town of 2,000 residents, is a bad town, adding that crime is out of character for the town.

"I don’t want anybody to think that this is some terrible town," Patterson said. "Because it’s not."