Charlotte, North Carolina, police have made two arrests after they said an innocent bystander was shot and killed while driving along a street Thursday afternoon.
The shooting happened just after 5 p.m., WSOC-TV reported. The TV station's chopper captured footage of dozens of police cars swarming an intersection in north Charlotte.
When officers arrived at the chaotic scene, they found 27-year-old Kendal Ryan Crank suffering with a gunshot wound inside a crashed vehicle.
Emergency responders pronounced Crank dead at the scene. She was on her way to nursing school when she was shot, WSOC-TV reported.
On Friday, police said two suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime. Their names have not been released.
Authorities said Crank was traveling along 28th Street at North Tryon Street when she drove through a gunfight and was killed by a stray bullet.
Police said they believe Crank was not the intended target, and witnesses told officers they saw several men shooting at each other near the intersection at the time of the incident.
Investigators think there may have been two groups of people exchanging gunfire and that they scattered before officers arrived.
Bullet casings were found on the ground all around the area.
"Certainly it's tragic when anyone dies, but to have someone who was just driving by," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Major Mike Campagana.
Crank was the mother of two young children -- a 9-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. Her stepfather, Donald Springs, told WSOC-TV he wants to forgive those responsible for the killing but that it's too soon and still too painful.
CMPD Chief Kerr Putney said he wishes more people would get upset about this kind of senseless violence.
"Here's what it says to me, and I'm frustrated by it because the only time people really want to get upset is when police are involved," Putney said. "What I'm saying is that's what we can't tolerate. We can't have somebody innocent caught in the crossfire, potentially, and why are we resorting to gun violence so quickly? It's young people continuing to make bad decisions. We got to break that cycle."
Crank's father's best friend, Johnny King, said he drove to the scene as soon as he got the call and walked several more blocks to get as close as he could.
"I feel like I lost a daughter myself," King said. "She's a good girl. She was working and going to college, had two kids. You know, a good girl."
Officials said after the shooting, a man showed up at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm. Investigators are looking into the possibility that man was hit during the same shooting, according to CMPD.
North Tryon Street between 27th and 30th Streets was closed for hours while crews investigated the scene, speaking with witnesses and gathering evidence.
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