A Burlington woman is being held without bond after police say she fired a gun at another woman during an argument on Peace Lane, just before 5 p.m. on Friday. Ericka Latiesha Graves, 28, was arrested and now faces a felony charge along with a string of misdemeanors stemming from the incident in the 2100 block of Peace Lane. No one was injured, but investigators say the confrontation escalated quickly from a verbal dispute into gunfire.
According to the Burlington Times-News, Graves was arrested after firing a gun at a woman she had been arguing with, per the Burlington Police Department. She was transported to the Alamance County Jail, where she is being held with no bond allowed while she awaits a hearing before a judge.
Felony and Misdemeanor Charges Stack Up
Graves faces one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, along with three misdemeanors: assault by pointing a gun, discharging a firearm within city limits, and possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance. Under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-32, the felony charge is classified as a Class E offense, which for someone with no prior record can carry 15 to 31 months in active prison time, with maximum exposure reaching up to 88 months depending on prior record level.
The misdemeanor gun-pointing charge falls under N.C.G.S. § 14-34, which makes pointing a firearm at another person — loaded or not — a Class A1 misdemeanor, the most serious misdemeanor classification in the state, carrying up to 150 days in jail. The discharge-of-a-firearm charge stems from Burlington's municipal ordinance under Chapter 9 of the city code, which bars firing a gun within city limits except in lawful self-defense or by law enforcement, and carries fines up to $500 for a first offense. The drug charge involves a Schedule VI substance, which under N.C.G.S. § 90-95 covers primarily marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids; simple possession of half an ounce or less is a Class 3 misdemeanor carrying a maximum of 20 days in jail or a suspended sentence with a fine up to $200 for a first-time offense.
Why No Bond Was Set
Graves was held with no bond allowed due to the violent nature of the charges against her. That detention outcome traces back to North Carolina's Pretrial Integrity Act, enacted in October 2023, which restricts magistrates from setting release conditions for certain violent felony charges and instead requires a judge to determine bond. The law explains why Graves was held pending a hearing before a judge rather than released on bond at the magistrate level, a marked shift from how similar cases were once handled locally — in February 2018, a Burlington woman charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill following a dispute was instead placed in the Alamance County Jail under a $25,000 secured bond, before the pretrial reform took effect.
A Second Gunfire Case Days Earlier
The Peace Lane arrest comes less than a week after another no-injury shooting in Burlington. On August 29, Burlington Police arrested a 53-year-old man who was also held without bond after allegedly firing shots into an occupied residence in the 2300 block of May Drive during an early-morning incident, as Hoodline reported in its story on the May Drive shooting arrest. The Burlington Police Department maintains a Crime Analysis Unit and an Aerial Reconnaissance and Tactical Intelligence Center, established in 2017 to track local crime patterns and coordinate rapid responses across Alamance County.
How to Report Information
Anyone with information about the Peace Lane shooting is asked to contact the Burlington Police Department at (336) 229-3500, or to report anonymously through Alamance County-Wide Crime Stoppers at (336) 229-7100 or via the P3 Tips mobile app. The department is also currently recruiting experienced officers to serve as School Resource Officers, with salaries ranging from $60,400 to $94,380 annually, as it continues broader community policing efforts across the city.
