Raleigh mayor, Wake County DA weigh in after ‘teen takeover’ ends in 9 shot

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman says while no juveniles have been charged yet in the weekend’s shootings during what police call a “teen takeover,” several have been identified.

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Meanwhile, Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell says she’s considering a curfew for people 17-years-old and younger.

From Brier Creek to Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh Police say 5,000 teenagers were behind the chaos. Video from social media shows thousands of people crowding Glenwood Avenue as Raleigh Police swarm the area. As of Monday afternoon, no juveniles were charged in any of the nine shootings.

“Juveniles have been identified, and those processes are underway to secure petitions, and again, this is an investigation that will go on for some period of time,” Freeman said on Monday.

While the charges are being organized, Freeman said she and other law enforcement agencies can’t always be reacting to the violence.

“We have to look at prevention methods as well, I anticipate City Council will look at the possibility of a curfew and whether it’s appropriate to impose some sort of curfew and then just building out from there,” she said.

Mayor Cowell says City Council will talk about that and other ideas at their meeting on Tuesday.

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DA Freeman says it’s not enough. She wants stricter juvenile laws modeled to hold even young offenders accountable.

“Unfortunately, the law really is not well designed for handling violent juveniles, and that is something I really have called on the legislature in the past to look at and do so again today,” Freeman said.

She wants changes to secure custody laws so that officers can detain juveniles when necessary. She also said city leaders need to look at situations where adults leave guns accessible to juveniles.

While investigations into the shootings and the overall violence from the weekend continue, DA Freeman says she met with Raleigh Police Chief Rico Boyce on Monday to talk about solutions.

“We’re going to take a serious look at those cases, bring those people to justice, and make it clear that we’re not going to tolerate that kind of behavior in our community,” Freeman said.

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