2 teens arrested in shooting of man at Rocky Mount Walgreens

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Saturday, August 5, 2023
2 teens arrested in shooting of man at Rocky Mount Walgreens
Rocky Mount police said Friday that an illegal drugs transaction gone wrong led to the shooting at a Walgreens the previous day.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) -- Rocky Mount police said Friday that an illegal drugs transaction gone wrong led to the shooting at a Walgreens the previous day.

Police responded late Thursday afternoon to the Walgreens at 2624 Sunset Avenue after they got a tip that someone had been shot.

When officers got there, there was no victim or suspect to be found.

Police later found the 21-year-old gunshot victim near Charlotte Avenue and Forest Hill Avenue. Nash County EMS workers took him to Nash UNC Health Care for treatment.

Working with the Nash County Sheriff's Office, police learned that Blankenship and two juveniles allegedly met to conduct "an illegal sale of controlled substances," but that transitioned into a robbery.

Late Thursday night, investigators arrested a 15-year-old Rocky Mount boy and seized a handgun suspected of having been used in the crime. The teenager was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a handgun by a minor.

He was taken to the Wake County Juvenile Detention Center under a secured custody order.

Then early Friday, investigators tracked down the second suspect, a 16-year-old Nash County boy. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

He was also been placed in the Wake County Juvenile Detention Center under a secured custody order.

The case remains under investigation.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Rocky Mount Police Department at (252) 972-1411, call Crimestoppers at 252-977-1111 for cash rewards, or Text-A-Tip (text RMPOL and your message to 274637).

Note: Video is from a previous report.

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