One of the things you get used to seeing when you're on apps like Nextdoor and other similar neighborhood-centered apps is people who jump on them in the middle of the night and nervously ask, "Was that fireworks or gunshots?" in response to hearing pops go off in the distance or nearby.
I know I did that a time or two in my old neighborhood, which was a relatively safe, middle-class one that backed up to not-so-great ones, a common thing you see around Charlotte, North Carolina. Sometimes I'd get a response; sometimes I wouldn't, but when I (and others who posted) did, the sentiment seemed nearly universal: we shouldn't have to live like this.
Occasionally, some smart aleck would chime in by using a laughing emoji and informing people that gunshots in the middle of the night were just something we should get used to because we live in a big city. My immediate thought was always, like hell we should get used to it.
I'm in a different neighborhood now, and while we don't hear gunshots at night nearly as often, we hear them enough that they are a cause for concern. In a community right behind ours, several rounds of gunshots going off in the middle of the night a few years ago actually ended up with random homes being shot into. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the peace of mind of law-abiding residents was undoubtedly shattered.
Over the weekend, a similar scenario played out on a street called Grassy Patch Lane. It was the second time in less than a month that homes were shot into in the community. In the first instance, a woman was injured. In the second one, two people in two different homes were struck. One, an unidentified woman, is expected to be okay. But the other victim, 4-year-old Caleb Flax, died:
“Around 3:56, never forget the time — I thought it was firecrackers. I thought they were playing with so many rounds, a hundred rounds, it just sounded like firecrackers, and I just — when I awakened, they started yelling, saying, 'Caleb been hit, Caleb been hit' and after that, it was chaos after that,” Caleb’s grandfather Frank Hampton said.
[...]
“The whole neighborhood loved him, everybody knew when Caleb came outside, let’s go Caleb," Hampton said. "He spoke to everyone, he never met a stranger. He was a happy child, he stayed smiling — he kept a smile on his face.”
Two vehicles were reportedly seen fleeing the area of the shooting at around 3 a.m. But there was no immediate suspect description given by police. Anyone with information is asked to call CMPD homicide detectives.
Caleb's mother, Bryanna, says she was sleeping right next to him when it happened:
“Turned the light on; all I saw was blood on my baby,” she said. “They shot him in his head, and it went through his brain.”
Flax says it felt like a fever dream.
Police reportedly laid out "more than 100 evidence markers indicative of the number of shots fired," according to WSOC-TV.
Caleb was looking forward to starting kindergarten. Here's what he looked like:
It was 3 am
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) September 20, 2026
4-year-old Caleb Flax was inside his house sleeping when CMPD says someone shot up 4 homes on Grassy Patch Lane in northwest Charlotte
One of the bullets struck Flax. He died in the hospital.
His grandfather says he loved to ride bikes and watch football.
CMPD… pic.twitter.com/eXfcI2rbSv
One local news outlet noted that "with four lives lost in a week to gun violence, community leaders call for urgent investment in youth violence prevention and support programs."
Other residents, however, correctly pointed out that not only is it not hard to guess what likely played out that night, but that such programs are not gonna get the job done:
OMG 🥺
— Uptown resident (@L1569Uptown) September 20, 2026
Four-year-old Caleb Flax, the little boy MURDERED by I’m sure REPEAT offenders who sprayed gunfire into multiple homes in northwest Charlotte.
Investment in youth violence prevention. Charge them all as ADULTS and lock their asses up! ENOUGH!!!!! https://t.co/nQQh9GTana pic.twitter.com/nIl2tovHVW
Caleb's grandfather, Frank Hampton, is fed up, too, and nailed it here:
Chaos filled with pain left behind for the Flax family. Hampton says stricter laws and punishment need to be considered when it comes to criminals.
“Please change, please get this court system right. Once they catch ‘em, lets’s keep ‘em in there. No house arrest, none of this ankle monitoring things,” Hampton said.
No suspects have been named in this case because, predictably, no one is talking, either out of fear of retaliation or thanks to ingrained hatred of cops, the latter of which can be blamed in part on Democrats like Senate nominee Roy Cooper, whose soft-on-crime record as both former governor and former state attorney general has been under intense scrutiny since Iryna Zarutska's brutal stabbing murder on the Charlotte rail system last August. The suspect in her case is violent repeat offender DeCarlos Brown, Jr., who was previously released under Cooper's watch.
If the people of this city and this state - and similar areas in other parts of the country - want better outcomes and brighter futures for our children, they simply must stop electing and reelecting Woke, Inc. "leaders" who only perpetuate the needless cycle of violence, because it doesn't have to be this way. It just doesn't. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who keeps electing these types of folks and expecting a different outcome is part of the problem. That's just the facts of the matter. I said what I said.
Per the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), anyone with information on this case should call "704-432-8477 (TIPS) and speak directly to a Homicide Unit detective." Alternatively:
The public can also leave information anonymously by calling Charlotte Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600, using the Charlotte Crime Stoppers P3 Tips Mobile App or by visiting the Charlotte Crime Stoppers website. For additional information about this case, please refer to the report: 20260920-0301-00 .
Rest in peace, little Caleb. May your memory be a blessing to your family.
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