Vehicle caught fire as Charlotte police tried in vain to save wounded motorist inside

Charlotte’s latest killing happened inside a vehicle and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were still trying to save the wounded man even as the vehicle was on fire, authorities say.

It happened about 6:30 p.m. Monday in the 5700 block of Barrington Drive, north of The Plaza, CMPD officials said in a news statement.

The victim has been identified as 49-year-old Perry Demetius Bostic.

An initial 911 call alerted police to multiple shots being fired in the neighborhood.

According to emergency radio communications, the caller offered little additional information — only that there was a parked vehicle outside his home and he could not see anyone inside it. Then, he hung up, according to the radio traffic obtained by the Observer from Broadcastify.

“Upon arrival, officers began performing life-saving measures on an adult male who was located in a vehicle with an apparent gunshot wound,” CMPD said in a release.

“The victim was removed from the vehicle due to the vehicle being on fire. Charlotte Fire Department arrived on scene to extinguish the burning vehicle,” officials said.

Medic ambulance staff pronounced the man at the scene a short time later, officials said.

“Homicide Detectives are currently canvassing the area to determine whether there are any additional witnesses to this incident,” the release said.

Witnesses are asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective or call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

Charlotte has had 103 homicides so far this year, including a woman who allegedly shot and killed her daughter on Thanksgiving day, according to CMPD. The most homicides the city has ever had came in 1993, when 129 people were murdered.

In one-third of this year’s homicide, the victims knew their killer, according to CMPD data. Most of the 2019 killings were spread out in an east-to-west arch over uptown, the Charlotte Observer reported last week.

Monday’s killing happened east of uptown and within blocks of where Derrick Chambers, 31, was shot and killed in April.

CMPD data reports 80 percent of Charlotte’s 2019 homicide victims were shot. Others were stabbed, beaten or hit by a vehicle.

At least 30 homicides occurred during arguments and 13 more were killed in a drug-related incident. Twelve were killed during a domestic dispute, data show.

This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 5:44 AM with the headline "Vehicle caught fire as Charlotte police tried in vain to save wounded motorist inside."