Neighbor remembers Durham man shot and killed overnight

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Northbound lanes of Miami Boulevard were closed as police investigated a deadly shooting in a Durham neighborhood.

Shortly after 1:40 a.m. officers arrived on Robinhood Road where they found one man who had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers say a portion of north Miami Blvd. was closed from Kilmer Terrace to Braxton Street.

ABC11 Neighborhood Safety Tracker

Based on a preliminary investigation, the shooting does not appear to be random.

The overnight gunfire that killed a man on Robinhood Road in Durham echoed through the home of Jeremy Lynch. He lives next door to the home where it happened, and heard several shots. "About 5 or 6," he said. "I ducked. I'm not trying to get hit with no fragments or bullets!"

Lynch told us the man who died next door in the early morning hours of Independence Day lived in the neighborhood, not far away.

"He was up and down the street, didn't mess with nobody. As far as I'm concerned, he was a good guy. Sorry to the family, the friends, for what happened to him," Lynch said.

He told us people who knew the man shot and killed next door called him Red, and the killer shot him as he visited a friend next door to Lynch.

"When something like this happens, people are scared to come outside," Lynch said. "Scared to have family events, scared to be around with their kids, you know what I'm saying? It's just sad."

Especially for Red's friend in the home next door to Lynch's. That friend was too upset to talk about what happened, but his daughter commented off camera: "I heard fireworks at my house all through the night. So I was shocked to wake up and hear that, again, something happened over here."

Now she's worried about his safety because according to the ABC11 Neighborhood Crime and Safety Tracker, that part of Durham's had the highest number of murders this year.

Lynch told us about his own close call with gun violence before last night, when "I had to hit the floor. Like I said, I'm not trying to get hit by no fragments or bullets. It happened to me once already, and I'm not trying to have it happen to me again."

He said he was shot in the head last year, and police caught the man who did it.

"They found me in the woods. I was shot in the back of my head. Guy shot me, and I didn't even know him," he said.

Police say the early morning July Fourth shooting was not a random attack.

"That was something tragic that happened there, man," Lynch said. "I'm devastated that it happened to him."

When asked what should happen next, then neighbor's daughter said, "Honestly, I don't have words. I just wish it would stop, especially around innocent people."

Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Cramer at (919) 560-4440, ext. 29284 or CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200.