1 man dead, 1 woman injured in North Carolina shooting

A shooting incident on Sunday left a 26-year-old man dead and a woman injured in Asheville, North Carolina, Police officials reported.

The shooting occurred early Sunday outside a Livingston Apartments building at 21 Palmer St. shortly after 3 a.m.

Charles Keith Morgan, Jr. was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead and 25-year-old Lakeisha Shantia Eddings is being treated at the same hospital.

Police have begun investigation asking the community for help in the case, Asheville police Sgt. Dave Romick said.

According local residents, it was not clear what sparked the violence or who was responsible.

Resident Jared Pearce said he didn’t know of the shooting till he woke up later Sunday morning as shootings are quite commonplace.

“You hear gunshots quite often,” Pearce said. “The gunfire itself is not surprising. It’s a tragedy when it comes to violence, especially gunfire. Growing up, if you had a problem with somebody you’d duke it out and everybody would go home. Now, they pull out a gun and shoot.”

Asheville Middle School baseball coach Tommy Gassaway, who coached Morgan in youth basketball and baseball leagues, said: “He was a great kid. He was kind of lost, but he had the best smile in the world. When he did something good and you complimented him, he would have the biggest smile on his face.”

The US averages 87 gun deaths each day as a function of gun violence, with an average of 183 injured, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Centers for Disease Control.