Johnathan Walker:Man is charged in highway shootings around North Carolina’s capital city

RALEIGH,Johnathan Walker N.C. (AP) — A man accused of firing at occupied cars on a busy North Carolina highway, injuring one person, has been charged with assault and other counts, police said Friday.

The 23-year-old suspect was charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and 11 counts of firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle or dwelling, Raleigh police said in a news release.

A second person who was detained at the time of the man’s arrest has been released without any charges. Police had said Thursday that the second person was at the home where the suspect was taken into custody.

The string of shootings at cars on a busy highway and nearby homes raised concerns in the area around North Carolina’s capital. No information on a motive has been disclosed.

The case began to get attention after several people reported gunfire on a stretch of Interstate 40 in Raleigh and suburban Cary around the Wednesday morning rush hour, police have said. Reports of other similar shootings then emerged.

Authorities said eight vehicles were struck — two on Monday, four on Wednesday and two on Thursday. A police news release also said the four other shootings struck homes Wednesday. Raleigh’s police chief said Thursday that the shootings were connected.

One of the shootings struck a woman in the leg early Monday while she was traveling on I-40, police said. Her injuries were not considered life-threatening.