CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is launching a new initiative to crack down on people who shoot into homes.
It’s called SWITCH, which stands for: Safety, Wellness, Initiative, Towards, Community, Households.
Channel 9′s Eli Brand learned CMPD hopes the new program will gain community support.
In 2024, Charlotte police investigated over 800 cases of homes and cars being shot into while people were inside.
Last weekend alone, there were more than half a dozen shootings into cars and homes with people inside.
One of those victims is a woman who spoke with Channel 9 and asked to go by the name Marsha. Our photographer could see bullet holes in the side of her home and a shattered window.
“It was one thing when we thought it was next door or wherever. But it’s another thing when it comes home,” Marsha said.
She said she doesn’t know who did it or why they would do it.
One bullet flew into her daughter’s bathroom. Thankfully, she wasn’t home.
“Thank God she wasn’t at home. She was on her trip and I mean she could have been in there doing makeup or whatever and thank God she wasn’t,” Marsha said.
CMPD said they’re now attacking the problem with their new SWITCH program.
Through the initiative, CMPD said they’ll assign four detectives to solve past shootings into homes and offer a $500 reward to tipsters for information leading to an arrest.
“I worked for the police department, so I know their job is tough and they’re overloaded but they could start making it a little more of a priority,” Marsha said.
Marsha said victims like her need closure. She especially wants peace for her teenage grandchildren who were inside the home and traumatized while bullets were flying.
“The kids are frightened. I can’t leave them very long by themselves,” Marsha said.
Of those over 800 shootings into homes over the past year, more than 170 resulted in people getting hurt.
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