Durham police make arrest in apartment shooting, ID man killed
Durham police have identified the man killed and made an arrest after Wednesday night's shooting at an apartment complex that also injured three other people.
Police identified the man killed as Nelson Mendez-Vasquez, 27, of Durham. He died shortly after arriving at the hospital following the shooting at the Duke Manor apartments in the 300 block of South Lasalle Street, police said.
Officers arrested a suspect Yeltsin Cinto Orozco. The 29-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder.
At 10:13 p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to Duke University Hospital after four people, three men and a woman, walked into the hospital with gunshot wounds.
Police said the woman is facing life-threatening injuries. The other two men received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the police.
Police could be seen Thursday investigating outside the apartment complex. WRAL News crews at the scene counted more than 15 evidence markers on the ground.
One neighbor told WRAL News he heard gunshots and saw police investigating. According to the man, the neighborhood is usually quiet.
Police said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident.
Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams addressed the shooting at Thursday afternoon's work session.
"This is happening on a daily basis right before us, and I want to make sure it's always top of mind," Williams said.
At Monday's city council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton talked about the importance of addressing gun violence.
Five people were shot last week, including a 17-year-old who was killed.
"We will always have an asterisk next to our, next to our celebration, as long as two miles from our city center, our young people are jumping in bathtubs at night when it's not bath time because they're ducking and covering gunfire," Middleton said.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Investigator J. Sokal at 919-560-4440 ext. 29238 or Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200 or durhamcrimestoppers.org. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards of up to $2,000 for information leading to arrests in felony cases.
The Durham Police Department releases crime statistics each Saturday. The most recent available numbers are from May 4. As of that date, 66 people had been shot in Durham this year so far. With the addition of four people shot Wednesday night, and another man shot earlier in the day, that number is now more than 70.
