CHARLOTTE — A family visit from Georgia to Charlotte for a 4th of July gathering turned tragic when 27-year-old Gabriel Lee was killed in a shooting early Saturday morning.
The incident occurred outside the Brooklyn Lounge shortly after 1 a.m., where Lee was leaving with his brother and cousins.
A group of people approached them in the parking lot, leading to an altercation that resulted in Lee’s death.
“My baby left here in a body bag, and he came here in the car,” said Nekisha Nicholas, Lee’s mother, expressing her grief at the scene on North Caldwell Street.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) is investigating the shooting, which left car windows shattered and the parking lot roped off with crime scene tape.
No arrests have been made, and CMPD is seeking information from the public.
Lee’s family, who traveled from Georgia for the holiday weekend, is now preparing to return home without him.
“He came here just to have a good time, and he is not making it back to Georgia,” said Nicholas Cosey, Lee’s father.
The family plans to hold a balloon release at the scene of the crime this Saturday at 5 p.m. as they continue to call for justice and an end to senseless gun violence.
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