Two people are dead and two others are hurt after a shooting erupted before dawn Sunday in southwest Charlotte, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Officers were called to the area near the 10000 block of Ridge Creek Drive around 4 a.m., where they found four people with apparent gunshot wounds.
Two of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while the other two were taken to a nearby hospital, according to WSOC-TV. One of the injured victims is expected to recover, but there was no word on the condition of the other as of Sunday morning. CMPD has not publicly identified any of the four victims, nor has it named any suspects.
The station's report notes that CMPD's Homicide Unit has taken over the investigation and is still working to piece together what happened in the hours before sunrise. Police have asked anyone with information about the shooting to come forward, though the department has not released further details about what led up to the gunfire.
A Separate Steele Creek Investigation Looms in the Background
The shooting comes just a day after CMPD homicide detectives opened a separate investigation in the same part of the city. A newsroom release from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department described detectives conducting a homicide investigation in the 700 block of High Meadow Lane in the Steele Creek Division on Saturday.
Steele Creek has seen other violence this year. Back in April, one person was fatally shot and two others were critically injured during an assault at the Residences At Cedar Creek, according to the Charlotte Observer. That attack happened around 7:30 p.m. in the 7200 block of Forest Point Boulevard, near Interstate 77 and Nations Ford Road. The man who died in that case was identified as 39-year-old Gregory Scott, and police later said everyone involved had been identified, with no additional persons of interest being sought.
Homicides Tick Up Even as Overall Crime Falls
Sunday's shooting lands against a broader backdrop of crime data that CMPD reported on October 15, 2026. Citywide crime was down 17 percent through the first nine months of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Queen City News, with violent crime down 15 percent and property crime down 17 percent over that stretch. Aggravated assaults were reported down 14 percent for the same period.
Yet homicides moved in the opposite direction. Charlotte had logged 66 reported homicides through the reporting period, compared with 60 at the same point in 2025, and CMPD said third-quarter homicide numbers were up 10 percent from the prior year even as the department's Homicide Unit maintained a 78 percent clearance rate. CMPD has attributed its broader crime reductions to strategic deployment, increased officer visibility in high-activity areas, and strengthened partnerships across the community.
For now, CMPD has described Sunday's investigation into the Ridge Creek Drive shooting as active and ongoing, and the department has not released additional details beyond the initial scene information. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
