Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Greenville police arrested four men in connection with a Tuesday morning home invasion that left an East Carolina University senior recovering from two gunshot wounds.
Drew Daly, 23, originally of Hillsboro, was shot twice in the chest with a .357-caliber Magnum after seven men, alledgedly affiliated with a local gang, robbed him and 11 other people at gunpoint at 607 E. Fourth St. about 3:10 a.m. Tuesday, Greenville Police Chief William Anderson said during a news conference. He said Daly was in serious condition Tuesday afternoon.
 Josh Humphries/The Daily Reflector |
| Greenville Police Chief William Anderson speaks at the Tuesday afternoon news conference. |
 Josh Humphries/The Daily Reflector |
| Greenville Police Detective R. Williams, right, escorts suspects from Tuesday's armed robbery and shooting at an East Fourth Street house from the police department to a van to be transported to the Pitt County Detention Center on Tuesday afternoon. |
Anderson said officers believe there was an altercation between Daly and one of the suspects.
"A weapon was possibly taken from one of the suspects and that is when the victim was shot," Anderson said.
Greenville police arrested four suspects shortly after the robbery and shooting.
An officer spotted a Red Saturn driving from the area at a high rate of speed and ignoring several stop signs, Anderson said.
The officer stopped the vehicle on Elizabeth Street and detained the four people in the car, who matched descriptions given by victims, Anderson said.
Kendrick Montel Little, 20, of 1709 W. Conley St. was identified as the shooter, Anderson said.
Little faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill along with numerous other charges.
Marcus Brandon Bell, 18, of 300 S. Memorial Drive; Benny Tyrico Clark, 19, of 905 A Imperial St.; and Keyvon Clifton, 17, of 110 B Paul Circle also were arrested.
All four suspects face one count of first-degree burglary, 10 counts of armed robbery, 10 counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of attempted armed robbery.
Bell also was served with outstanding warrants for conspiring to sell marijuana and conspiring to deliver marijuana in unrelated incidents.
An ECU police officer observed a second suspicious vehicle, a black Geo Prism, leaving the area of the robbery.
The officer attempted to stop the car at the corner of Fourth and Nash streets, but the three occupants jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot, Anderson said.
Both vehicles were seized and are in the custody of the Greenville Police Department. A weapon also was recovered, Anderson said.
Officers did not know the amount of cash and property taken from the robbery victims.
Officers continued to interview the suspects, who admitted affiliation with a local gang, Anderson said.
Detectives are investigating if the four suspects have been involved in other recent armed robberies, strong armed robberies and home invasions in the Greenville area, Anderson said.
Anderson said the victims were holding a gathering at the house when the robbery occurred. He said the victims and the suspects did not know each other.
"Our belief is that the suspects saw the crowd and used that as a motive to target the location," said Anderson. "We believe it was a crime of opportunity."
Anderson spoke while standing before maps used for the recently created Robbery Response Plan. He said officers have increased patrols in several areas of Greenville to reduce armed robberies and made more than 50 arrests in the past month.
While the shooting occurred outside ECU police jurisdiction, it caused alarm on campus, said Michelle Lieberman, director of student safety and off-campus and community services. The incident highlights how hard it is to keep an open college campus safe, she said.
It's "very challenging for us to try to continually figure out ways to educate and promote safety to our students when we keep having these things that occur," she said.
The robbery's timing was particularly frustrating, Lieberman said. It occurred less than 12 hours after a campus safety forum that drew more than 150 students and employees. Lieberman shared results of a survey on safety taken this past spring.
Forty-five percent of 3,900 respondents said they feel unsafe in the areas around campus; 28 percent said they do feel safe in neighboring areas. By contrast, 60 percent to 90 percent said they feel comfortable on campus, with fewer feeling secure at night.
ECU safety officials urge students to avoid dangerous behaviors — walking alone at night, letting strangers in dormitories — but it's difficult to address what happened Tuesday morning, when the students robbed did not appear to engage in unsafe behavior, Lieberman said.
"What do you do with a situation like this?" she said. "I can talk to students all day, but how do you prevent an incident like this from occurring?"
The ECU Police Department will post more officers in areas adjacent to campus, Lieberman said. They'll also hold patrols seven days a week, rather than the current Wednesday through Sunday.
Anderson said the Greenville Police Department also will increase patrols in the neighborhood.
Josh Humphries can be contacted at jhumphries@coxnc.com and 329-9565.
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