The Raleigh Police Department released Mark Irwin, a sophomore in engineering, on $25,000 bail, according to the Wake County Sheriff’s Office. Officials at the District Attorney’s office said Irwin will be tried at court on Feb. 14 for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.
According to Raleigh Police representative Jim Sughrue, Irwin and a group of friends were shooting off fireworks in the early morning hours of Thursday, when neighbor Chris Barber came out and asked for the activity to stop.
The request prompted an argument between the two groups, which escalated into a physical altercation. Irwin went inside to get a shotgun and came back outside at the same time Barber’s younger brother, John Kennedy, stepped outside, Sughrue said.
Irwin discharged the gun, shooting Kennedy in his right leg and Barber then charged at Irwin, who shot Barber in the pelvis, according to Sughrue.
Sughrue said the group remained on the scene and Raleigh Police arrested Irwin and charged him with two counts of assault. Barber and Kennedy were transported to WakeMed for treatment.
Darryl Jones, a senior in landscape architecture, is a neighbor of Irwin. The dispute awoke Jones that early Thursday morning and he said he saw a lot of the aftermath.
“When I woke up, my whole bedroom was awash in blue lights,” Jones said. “I heard lots of screaming and a guy yelling about his little brother being shot. I went out and watched all that was going on and we could see everything happening. I saw the guy who got shot in the pelvis talking to the cops and he just seemed in shock over the whole thing.”
Jones said he is an “acquaintance” of Kennedy and that the presence of law enforcement in the area has calmed down.
“Me and my roommates really want him to be tried, and we’re not sure we really want to live near that — but Chamberlain Street is known for its rowdiness,” Jones said. “We’re not nervous about it — it’s just strange. We know it’s an isolated incident, but we definitely don’t approve of it.”
Irwin declined to comment on the situation.
