9:45 p.m. update:
A teenager was pronounced dead at the scene of a double shooting near Washington Avenue and East Street late Friday afternoon.
Jahad Moore, 18, was killed after suffering a gunshot wound to the head, while Jacoby Riddick, 24, was shot in the leg and transported to Vidant Medical Center after initially being taken to Lenoir Memorial Hospital.
The shooter or shooters are still on the loose, said officials from the Kinston Department of Public Safety, although two men were detained for questioning by the agency.
Police responded to the incident two blocks behind Fire Station 1 around 5:30 p.m. Dozens of onlookers were on the scene, including the relatives of the deceased.
“All (the police) are saying is that he got shot in the head,” said Moore’s sister, Shanirah Carriere, 29.
KDPS Director Bill Johnson said there were two men detained for questioning, but that they weren’t officially considered as suspects.
“We are still working and searching the area (and) neighborhood to see if we can determine the suspects,” KDPS Director Bill Johnson said.
Bystanders surrounded the little field where the shooting took place, many shaking their heads in disbelief. Cars drove by slowly to get a glimpse at the blood-stained sheet covering the victim’s body before he was loaded on a gurney, mouthing their shock as they rode by.
“It’s senseless, it’s really senseless,” said a woman who identified herself as one of the Moore’s relatives. “He was my second cousin. Honestly, I don’t know what happened; I just got a phone call. I think it’s gang-related. The other little boy that was with him that got shot, I know for a fact he just got shot at two days ago.
“I feel like my cousin was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Johnson said the police will continue searching the neighborhood — house by house, if needed — until they can nail down a suspect.
Witnesses said after the shooting they saw two people in black hooded sweatshirts flee.
“We heard shots and everybody started running,” said a man who asked not to be named in this story. He said he was on the scene shortly after the shooting. “Everybody just stood there and looked.”
While a shooter or shooters were still on the loose, many people, some crying, continued to pry for answers from the authorities.
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or jessika.morgan@kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.
6:35 p.m. update:
Two men have been detained for questioning in the shooting; the KDPS is not calling them suspects.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Kinston Department of Public Safety Director Bill Johnson has confirmed two men have been shot in East Kinston; one is dead.
The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. in a little field near the intersection of East Street and Washington Avenue, two blocks behind Fire Station 1. A body is on the ground and has been covered with a sheet.
The person who committed the shooting is still on the loose, according to Kinston Department of Public Safety officials on the scene.
One of the shooting victims was shot in the head and one in the leg. The survivor has been taken to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville with non-life-threatening injuries.
More information will be posted here as it becomes available.