ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Asheville police have arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with a July 5 shooting that investigators say led to the deadly mass shooting on Biltmore Avenue two weeks later.
Marqua Amryie Lamar Davis, 19, is charged in the July 5 shooting at Maple Crest Apartments on Lee Garden Lane. He faces one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, injury to personal property and carrying a concealed gun.
According to the Asheville Police Department, Davis has been held in the Buncombe County Detention Center since Thursday, July 23.
The arrest comes as investigators continue to piece together the July 19 shooting on Biltmore Avenue that left two people dead and seven others injured.
During a Friday news conference, Interim Police Chief Jackie Stepp said investigators now believe the two shootings are directly connected.
“At this point, evidence indicates that this here was a direct retaliatory act from the previous July 5th Maple Crest shooting,” Stepp said.
She said investigators also believe the violence is part of an ongoing cycle of retaliation.
“The evidence also strongly illustrates that this case is sadly the latest chapter in an ongoing pattern of retaliatory violence that has been taking place across our community for some time,” Stepp said.
According to police, one person suffered a minor gunshot wound to the shoulder during the July 5 shooting. The victim was driven to Mission Hospital for treatment.
Stepp said the July 5 investigation remains active but confirmed an arrest has been made in that case. When asked whether Davis was connected to the July 19 Biltmore Avenue shooting, police declined to answer directly, saying investigators have identified several persons of interest but did not want to compromise the active investigation.
Police also declined to say whether the victims in the Biltmore Avenue shooting were the intended targets.
Police say the people involved in the two shootings knew one another.
Asked whether the violence was gang-related, Stepp said it involved “two groups of individuals” who know one another and have been carrying out retaliatory acts against each other, but she did not characterize them as gangs.
Police also confirmed they recovered a Glock switch — an illegal device that can convert a semiautomatic handgun into a fully automatic weapon — during the Biltmore Avenue investigation. Stepp said the device made a handgun capable of rapid fire and noted federal authorities, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, are assisting with the investigation.
The investigation remains ongoing. Police said they continue to identify persons of interest and are asking anyone with information about either shooting to contact the Asheville Police Department or submit anonymous tips through the department’s Tip2APD app.