Gabral Hicks
Ranger – Police are working to determine a motive for a weekend shooting.
Gabral Raquan Hicks, 24, of Roanoke Rapids, was arrested Sunday night following a shooting near the intersection of Bell Hill Road and U.S. 64.
“They’re trying to talk to him now; he was pretty intoxicated last night,” Capt. Tiffany Holland said Monday morning.
A 28-year-old local man told deputies he left his residence on Bell Hill Road around 8 p.m. Sunday and noticed a red car traveling in front of him. He said the driver of the red vehicle pulled to the side of the road just before reaching U.S. 64.
The local man said he continued driving past the red car and was stationary in the U.S. 64 median crossover when chaos erupted.
“He realized he was being shot at when his back window was busted,” Holland said. “He left the area as quickly as possible.”
Officials say a 2-year-old boy was strapped in a car seat in the rear of the vehicle, which sustained multiple bullet holes. Thankfully, no one was injured by gunfire.
“This was my grandbaby; you all have no idea how close he came,” Tracey Nalley wrote on Facebook. “The bullet that entered the rear window barely clipped a piece of the frame metal and changed the bullet’s trajectory just enough to save my grandbaby and I thank our GOD for his mercy.”
Police later saw what they believed to be the suspect’s vehicle pulling into BB&T Bank and initiated a traffic stop. Police found two pistols and several spent shell casings inside the car upon inspection.
The driver of the vehicle, identified as Hicks, was charged with discharging a weapon in occupied property and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. As of the Cherokee Scout’s press time Tuesday, he was being held in jail on a $20,000 secured bond.
Hicks reportedly told police that he was at a property in the area of Bell Hill Road when he heard gunshots himself. He said he ran to his car and fired several gunshots into the air before speeding away. No one other than the victim and Hicks reported hearing gunfire.
Officials say the parties involved in this case do not know each other.