Gunfire exchanged early Saturday morning in East Rosemary Street lot

A gunfire exchange between two groups in an East Rosemary Street parking lot early Saturday morning left cars damaged and police searching for answers.

Shots were fired around 2:35 a.m. near Municipal Parking Lot 2, according to police reports. Reports state that two groups of males exchanged fire before fleeing.

There were no reported injuries, but about $700 of damage to nearby vehicles was reported.

Brian Krug, a bartender at Top of the Hill, said he was working at the time the shots were fired.

“One of the guys was out smoking on the porch,” he said. “He heard a loud, deep boom followed by a lot of high-pitched shorter ones.”

Krug said the staff knew it was gunfire, but didn’t hear anything else until police arrived at the scene 5 to 10 minutes later.

UNC students received an Alert Carolina email Saturday night about the incident.

“We issue the alert because of its proximity to campus, and Chapel Hill’s request for further information from the public,” UNC Department of Public Safety spokesman Randy Young said in an email.
Young said DPS, which doesn’t have jurisdiction in the case, had no further information.

Ross Moll, a manager at R&R Grill, said he thinks incidents like this happen when bars close early, letting patrons out into the street where bar security can’t keep fights from escalating.

“On the street, really no one can come other than police to step in between them,” he said.

“I’m almost glad we closed early that night.”

But some employees at nearby businesses — including Sakura, Coldstone Creamery and Starbucks — said they had not heard about the incident.

Those who did know about the incident had mixed reactions.

Starbucks employee and UNC senior Kassey Krause said she and her co-workers try not to walk alone at night after work, but will have to be extra careful in light of the event.

“We have to consider safety,” she said.

But Pat Thirakoun, a manager at Sakura, said he isn’t worried that the incident will impact business.

“They’ve got good policemen patrolling around here. I think it’s pretty safe,” Thirakoun said.

According to a press release, the Chapel Hill Police Department is investigating the incident and urges anyone with information to call its office at 919-968-2760.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.