A 67-year-old man is behind bars without bond after police say he opened fire into a pickup truck parked in a west Charlotte apartment complex early Wednesday, seriously wounding the man inside. Victor Crosby now faces multiple felony charges in connection with the shooting on the 3400 block of Markland Drive, one of two separate vehicle shootings that rattled Charlotte the same day.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say the shooting happened around 4:30 a.m. on August 5 in an apartment parking lot on Markland Drive, where officers were told a suspect discharged a firearm into a parked 2022 Ram 4500 truck. According to WCNC, the victim was identified as a 38-year-old man from Belmont, North Carolina, who suffered serious injuries in the attack. Police arrested Crosby on Thursday in connection with the shooting, resolving what had initially been reported as a case with no known suspect, per Queen City News, which first reported on the damage to the truck at roughly $500.
Charges and Custody Status
Crosby was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a firearm by a felon, WCNC reports. He is being held without bond in the Mecklenburg County jail, with a court date set for August 27.
Those charges carry significant weight under North Carolina law. Discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle is a Class E felony punishable by up to 63 months in prison, according to UNC School of Government — a charge that escalates to a Class D felony if the vehicle is in operation, and a Class C felony carrying up to 182 months if the shooting results in serious bodily injury. Separately, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is a Class G felony carrying up to 47 months in prison under state law, though that charge can climb to a Class F, D, or C felony if the weapon is brandished or fired during another felony, per the North Carolina General Assembly's statute.
A Second, Unsolved Shooting the Same Day
The Markland Drive shooting was one of two vehicles struck by gunfire in Charlotte that Wednesday. Later on August 5, Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers responded to Back Creek Church Road and University City Boulevard at 10:20 a.m., where a 2019 Land Rover Discovery was shot into while its driver sat behind the wheel, Queen City News reported. Bullets caused an estimated $10,000 in damage to the SUV, though police records indicate the driver was not hurt.
No suspect had been identified in that second shooting as of publication, and CMPD said it is investigating both vehicle shootings. It remains an open question whether the two incidents, which happened in different parts of the city hours apart, are connected in any way.
A Street With a Violent History
The Markland Drive corridor has seen gun violence before. In April 2022, 29-year-old Brandon Adams-Jones was fatally shot on the same block in a case that remains unsolved, according to WSOC TV. More recently, in June, CMPD officers responded to Markland Drive for a domestic violence call in which a woman reported shooting her attacker in self-defense after being assaulted, WCNC reported at the time.
Vehicle-directed gunfire has been an ongoing concern across the Charlotte area beyond this one street. In May, a South Charlotte father survived a road-rage shooting while driving, a case Hoodline covered that underscored how often gunfire in the city has targeted people inside their cars.
How the Shootings Fit Into Broader Crime Trends
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's midyear 2026 public safety update, released by the City of Charlotte, reported an 8% citywide reduction in violent crime and a 4% drop in aggravated assaults between January 1 and June 30. The same report recorded a 17% overall decrease in property crime, including a 31% drop in vehicle thefts and a 29% decline in larcenies from vehicles. Against that backdrop of declining crime citywide, the two August 5 vehicle shootings stand out as an exception to an otherwise improving trend.
CMPD has not released additional details on a possible motive in either shooting, and the investigation into the Back Creek Church Road incident remains active. Anyone with information has not yet been given a specific tip line in connection with either case, according to available reporting.
