One Man in Custody, Another Wanted in Connection with Elm Street Shootings

           

           "On Nov. 24, Detectives with the Greensboro Police Department have identified two Asheboro men in connection with the exchange of gunfire on Elm St. on Nov. 8 that left one person dead and four others wounded.

            Leonardo Vences, 23, was arrested without incident on Nov. 18 in after a motor vehicle stop in Rock Hill, S.C. He is charged Accessory After the Fact for the murder of 28-year-old Mark Shayne Davis who was fatally shot during the incident.

Vences was arrested with the assistance of the York County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Department Anti-Crime Team and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Vences waived extradition and will be transported to Greensboro in the near future.

            Police have identified Gosafat Rodriguez, 22, as the suspect in Davis’ murder. He has an active warrant for arrest for First Degree Murder. He also faces two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill or Inflict Serious Injury, and one count of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury in connection with the incident. Rodriguez is not believed to be in the Triad area.

           Witnesses stated that Davis was involved in an altercation between two groups of people in the area of S. Elm St. and Lewis St. at approximately 2:35 am on Nov. 8. The incident began after patrons had left several clubs at closing time, and became engaged in a verbal dispute that escalated to a shooting.

           Officer J.M. Chavez who fired his weapon at one of the shooters remains on administrative duties while the investigation is ongoing.

           Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000, or by texting 274637 (CRIMES) with the keyword badboyz.  Calls and texts are anonymous and confidential."

- A Police Report

VIEW: Documents for proposed Greensboro security ordinance

Here is the full security plan manual and proposed security ordinance that would impact entertainment venues in Greensboro. The issue has not gone before city council yet and the ordinance has been modified as recently as this week. Both documents were provided by Greensboro police attorney Jim Clark, who helped draft them.

For more details, pick up a copy of the latest issue of YES! Weekly or read the article online, entitled "clubs owners question proposed security ordinance."

Alleged shooting at Epic Nightlife called into question

Based on a press release issued by the Greensboro Police Department this morning, the News & Record and WXII are reporting that a 21-year-old man was shot in the foot at Epic Nightlife on West Lee Street in Greensboro.

There's nothing misleading or irresponsible about the way the press release is composed.

It states that at 3:07 a.m. today a Greensboro police officer showed up at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem to interview a person who said he had been shot at Epic Nightlife. The press release goes on to say that 21-year-old Cherysh Rymar Slater said he had left Epic through a side door at 1:50 a.m. when he came upon a fight in the parking lot and discovered he had been shot in the foot.

The two news accounts report basically that, except that their respective headlines take for granted that Slater was telling the truth.

Greensboro police Chief Ken Miller tells me there's strong reason to doubt Slater's account.

"At the time that the victim reported being shot in the parking lot, we had police officers in the parking lot," Miller says. "They did not hear any gunshots. Nobody heard anything. No commotion. Nobody called for help. No car pulled out of the parking lot.

"It either happened at a different time than the victim said it did or it didn't happen."