Offensive graffiti concerns Fayetteville business owner

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Racist gang graffiti showed up in a Fayetteville shopping center where many of the tenants and owners are African American.

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Bronco Square is across the street from Fayetteville State University. The graffiti is spray painted on a retaining wall behind the Bronco Square businesses on Murchison Road.

Police were apparently unaware of the graffiti until told of it by ABC11 late Wednesday afternoon.

Some of the graffiti appears racial, but some appears gang-related.

Antonio Canion, the co-owner of the Wings Plus restaurant, said he first noticed the offensive words when he opened his restaurant Wednesday morning, and he said he believes the graffiti was sprayed on the retaining wall and building Tuesday night.

"It's disheartening," Canion said. "We come out here, we are a mom-and-pop shop, we don't really have issues like that out here, and to see these tags on the wall, and some of the stuff seems very disrespectful.

"You know if it's gang related, that's scary, that should be looked at," he added. "And if it's racist, that's wrong and it's bigoted, and we shouldn't have that in this area."

Canion said whoever sprayed the graffiti also "tagged" a bus-stop shelter in front of the shopping center.

Fayetteville Police said they are investigating, but said so far, no other businesses along Murchison Road have complained of similar vandalism.

There's no immediate indication of whether this was an isolated act.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.