Five people shot, two killed, in overnight shootings in Durham

Durham police are investigating overnight shootings that left two people dead and three others injured.

The first shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. on Holloway Street near Briggs Avenue, police said.

Officers found two males with gunshot wounds lying outside a convenience store. One was already dead, and the second was taken to the hospital, where he died.

A female was shot in the leg and taken to the hospital, and a male was treated for a gunshot wound to his foot, according to police.

Police have not released the names or ages of those shot or any information about suspects or possible motives. They said the incident was not random.

No charges had been filed as of early Friday afternoon.

Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 919-560-4440, ext. 29529.

The second shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. in the 4000 block of Tranquil Road.

A woman was injured and taken to a hospital. The shooting appears to have been a domestic incident unrelated to the Holloway Street shooting, police spokesperson Kammie Michael said in an email.

The third shooting happened about 15 minutes later in the 2800 block of Chapel Hill Road, Michael said.

Residents told officers that a male they knew fired shots into two apartments. No one was injured.

Police investigators believe this incident is related to the shooting on Tranquil Road, Michael said.

Police are looking for Rodney Duane Johnson, 41, of Durham who faces charges of assault on a female and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, Michael said. Johnson, who is a suspect in both the second and third shootings, is considered to be armed and dangerous, she said.

Anyone who may have information about the shootings is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. Crimestoppers pays cash rewards for help solving cases, and callers never have to identify themselves.

Durham has seen escalating shootings, with elected leaders debating the best ways to respond to gun violence.

The City Council has rejected the police chief’s call for more officers in favor of strategies such as an expanded gun-violence interruption team and a new community safety department that will explore different ways to respond to public safety needs. The expanded team and new department will take effect in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Gun violence in Durham: The numbers

As of June 5, there had been 331 shooting incidents reported in Durham this year.

That was down from 370 incidents reported by the same time last year, according to the Durham Police Department.

But the number of people shot in this year’s incidents was up slightly, 105 compared to 104 the year before, and the number of people fatally shot was 17, compared to 11 the year before.

Last year, The News & Observer reported, the city saw 318 people shot, the most since police began compiling the statistics in 2016 and a possible record.

In a November news conference Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis said a small number of mostly young people were responsible for many of the shootings in the Bull City, with many of the incidents drive-by shootings.

The N&O asked to speak with Davis about the overnight shootings Friday but was told the chief was unavailable.

Police Department vacancies

Durham police are also short-staffed.

In April, the department had 71 vacancies, nearly 13% of its 556 allocated sworn positions, for a total of 485 sworn officers.

“The Durham Police Department has faced recruiting challenges in the past year as have many other law enforcement agencies,” Michael said in an email. “COVID, which kept us from going to live recruiting events, and several national events involving law enforcement contributed to a lull in our recruiting efforts over the past year.”

This month the City Council agreed to transfer five police department vacancies to the new Community Safety Department and to consider transferring up to 15 more positions in six months, when it will know better what the needs of the new department are.

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