An 18-year-old has been arrested after a shooting at a McDonald’s in Gastonia on Sunday evening.
Gastonia police said 18-year-old Martin Rojas has been charged with attempted murder.
Rojas is accused of shooting a 17-year-old in the parking lot. The teen was found unconscious and was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to Gaston Emergency Medical Services.
The family of victim Amirr Brown told Channel 9′s Ken Lemon he is a McDonald’s employee. He was shot in the leg and the bullet hit a major artery, Brown’s mother said.
Amirr’s mother, Chante Brown, said she got a call from police about an hour before he was supposed get off work. They are still trying to understand why this happened to a 17-year-old who was just trying to finish his shift.
Chante Brown said Amirr is kindhearted and always thinking about others.
Investigators said though they were not able to talk to Amirr, they got a description of the suspect and the car and were able to arrest Rojas hours later.
It’s all been hard on Amirr Brown’s mother, who said she has another son who survived a shooting. She is praying her 17-year-old survives this one.
“So yeah it’s really heavy on me,” she said. “Somebody just tried to kill my son.”