One man died after multiple shots were fired at a troubled Whiteville apartment complex Monday.
Tony Jayshawn Baker, 23, died at New Hanover Regional, according to Whiteville Police. He was at least the fourth person to murdered at the complex since January 2018.
WPD were called to Sandy Ridge Apartments at 9 p.m. after a call about shots fired. Witnesses told police that Baker had been transported to Columbus Regional by a private vehicle.
Officers were at the apartment complex until around 4 a.m.
Sandy Ridge has been the scene of multiple shots fired calls in recent years. Most recently, children and adults were sent running at nearby Nolan Park after a gunfight at the complex. A man and a pregnant woman were injured in that shooting. The woman’s unborn child was unharmed.
In the May 13 incident, Robert Avant and Dashad Maultsby went to the complex and got into an argument with a relative. Handguns and rifles were produced, and a gunfight ensued in an apartment building and the parking area.
That shooting, which left Avant wounded, was the 29th gunfire or assault call at the complex between January 2018 and May 2021. Three murders occurred at the complex during that time, and a fourth man who was found dead at Nolan Park was reportedly fleeing the complex when he was killed.
Not all the violence at Sandy Ridge has been directed at residents or visitors – police and sheriff’s deputies have been hit by thrown rocks and vegetables when responding to calls there. When WPD pursued several off-road vehicles into the complex just after the shooting, the sheriff’s office was called to provide backup after a large crowd surrounded the responding officers.
The problematic apartment complex is surrounded on two sides by Nolan Park, the city’s largest recreation facility and home to youth baseball, soccer, football and other activities, as well as the recreation center. The city is nearing completion of the final phase of Nolan Park, thanks to a multi-million dollar Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) grant.
After the May 13 incident, some parents and Dixie Youth players refused to return to Nolan until the ongoing problems were handled by the city. Problems at the park led the county commissioners to establish a central county park exploration committee to build a new youth sports complex near Southeastern Community College.
Baker was previously arrested by deputies in October 2019 for possession of two handguns stolen from Country Boy Outfitters in Whiteville. The Glock and Ruger handguns were part of a stash of 28 firearms stolen from Country Boy’s after two separate break-ins. A number of the handguns have been recovered from local crime scenes, and one AK-47 style rifle was reportedly seized by police in another state as part of a drug arrest.
