Two teenagers were arrested Sunday evening and charged in connection with the shooting of an off-duty Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer during an apparent home invasion earlier in the day.
Detectives arrested Kevin Watson McClary, 19, and Mauricio Gabriel Salazar-Peiti, 17, and they say McClary had been wanted on additional robbery warrants.
According to police, McClary was the man who broke into the southwest Charlotte apartment and shot Officer Jon Dunham during an attempted robbery about 6 a.m.
Salazar-Peiti was accused of a number of accessory-after-the-fact offenses.
Dunham is recovering from his wounds in a Charlotte hospital.
McClary was taken into custody without incident Sunday evening by detectives and charged with two counts of armed robbery, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, first-degree burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Salazar-Peiti voluntarily went to CMPD headquarters late Sunday and was charged after being interviewed by detectives. He faces two counts of accessory after the fact armed robbery and one count each of accessory after the fact assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, accessory after the fact first-degree burglary, and felony possession of stolen goods.
"Additional charges are pending for both suspects," said Officer Robert Trietley, a CMPD spokesman.
Mecklenburg County court records show McClary was arrested in June on breaking-and-entering charges, along with two misdemeanors. He was arrested four other times in 2010 and 2011, according to records.
Dunham was listed in stable condition early Monday.
The shooting happened in the 6600 block of Montcrest Drive, in an apartment complex near where Old Pineville Road meets Archdale Drive.
Dunham's son was in the apartment at the time but was not injured.
Dunham has been on the police force since 2008 and is assigned to the Metro Division.
Detectives questioned other residents of the apartment complex Sunday morning, and police used dogs and the police helicopter to search for the suspect.
Investigators asked anyone with information to call 704-432-TIPS to speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective. The public can also call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or visit the Crime Stoppers mobile app website at http://charlottecrimestoppers.com.
Copyright 2013 - The Charlotte Observer
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
