Fight at drive-thru ends with 8-year-old, two others shot, North Carolina cops say
UPDATE: The 8-year-old boy shot at Rocky Mount Drive-Thru was discharged from the hospital Sunday night, according to a Dec. 4 update from Rocky Mount Police Department. He is now recovering, police said.
Tiffany Vick, who was involved in the shooting, is in critical condition at ECU Health Medical Center, police said.
The search for Arkeem Shields is ongoing as of Dec. 4, police said, so he can be present for “questioning regarding this case.”
See the original story below.
An argument at a North Carolina drive-thru escalated into a shooting that injured multiple people, police said.
Three people were shot at Rocky Mount Drive-Thru, including an 8-year-old boy, according to a Dec. 3 Rocky Mount Police Department news release. Police are searching for one person involved in the shooting, while two others are either in custody or awaiting arrest.
Officers arrived at the scene after receiving a “shooting with injury call,” where they found 41-year-old Tiffany Vick injured with gunshot wounds, police said.
Before the shooting, investigators said Arkeem Shields, 24, was sitting with an 8-year-old in his car, waiting in the drive-thru. Vick walked up to his car, and a “verbal altercation” ensued, investigators said.
According to police, the two were said to have known each other.
A shootout began, and Shields’ car was shot through several times, police said. The boy was hit in the leg. Shields sped off to drive the child to the hospital, police said.
There was also an 11-year-old and 14-year-old with Vick, police said, which led to child abuse charges being filed against Vick and her wife, Crystal Vick.
A 24-year-old bystander was “grazed by gunfire” and was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Vick collapsed in the parking lot with two gunshot wounds, police said, and she was taken to UNC Nash Health General Hospital. She was later transferred to ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville.
There is no update on the boy’s condition — nor Vick’s — as of Dec. 4, Rocky Mount Police Department Public Information Officer Typhani Gray told McClatchy News.
Before officers arrived to the scene, Crystal Vick was said by police to have taken Tiffany Vick’s gun away, which obstructed the investigation.
After issuing search warrants for three locations, police found two pistols thought to have been used during the shooting, police said.
Crystal Vick was booked at Nash County Jail on a $25,000 bond and, along with child abuse, was charged with aiding and abetting, and resisting public officers, police said.
Tiffany Vick will be taken into custody after recovering in the hospital, according to police. She faces additional charges, including assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault on a minor and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
The North Carolina Department of Social Services was informed by police of the involvement of minors in the shooting and is conducting its own investigation, police said.
Shields was not located during the initial investigation, and police were searching for him as of Dec. 3.
Rocky Mount is about 60 miles northeast of Raleigh.
This story was originally published December 4, 2023 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Fight at drive-thru ends with 8-year-old, two others shot, North Carolina cops say."
