'Just a shock': NC State student arrested after string of 12 shootings damaging homes and vehicles
A college student in North Carolina was arrested in connection to a dozen shootings that took place in a matter of days and left multiple vehicles and homes damaged, police said.
Andrew Thomas Graney, 23, 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 wrote in a news release.
The only known individual injured by the shootings is a woman who was struck in the leg on Monday, local media outlets WRAL and the News & Observer reported. Police did not say if anyone else suffered injuries from the gunfire.
Police suspect Graney is responsible for a series of shootings that occurred on the I-40 highway, or near it, this week, according to the release. He was taken into custody around midnight on Friday with another individual, who has since been released with no charges, the department said.
Graney is connected to two shootings on Monday, eight shootings on Wednesday and two final shootings on Thursday, according to police. It is unclear if he was the lone shooter in these incidents, but police said they are working with federal, state and local law enforcement partners to identify any more people who may be responsible.
As an incentive, police are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the other suspected person or persons.
Who is Andrew Thomas Graney?
Graney is a senior majoring in anthropology at North Carolina State University, and he has been enrolled at the college in Raleigh since 2019, spokesperson Lauren Barker told USA TODAY in an email on Friday.
According to search warrants obtained by local media including ABC 11, police searched Graney's Hyundai Sonata and seized a handgun with a magazine, a gun case with live ammunition, a box of ammunition, spent shell casings, a digital camera and a silver laptop.
Surveillance video also showed Graney's car in the area of one of the Nov. 6 shootings, the TV station reported.
"I think to every student that I've talked to so far, it's just been a just a shock," Evan Oliver, a fellow student at NC State, told ABC 11.
Treka Graney: 'This is not my son'
Treka Graney, who identified herself as Andrew Graney's mother, spoke to WRAL and said her son's arrest "totally took (her) off guard."
"It is totally out of character ... he's a sweet boy," Treka Graney told the Raleigh-based TV station. "Everybody loves him. He always stands up straight, he's very polite. He always follows the rules."
During the interview with WRAL, Treka Graney repeatedly said, "This is not my son."
"I was so proud of him, and I still am very proud of him," she said. "I have no idea really still what's going on. My kids were never allowed to play with guns. Not water guns, stick guns. Anything dealing with a gun. It was absolutely not allowed."
When Graney was taken into custody, more than two dozen police officers swarmed a neighborhood on Kentford Court in southwest Raleigh, WRAL reported.
"All I can tell you is the kid that I raised is not this kid," Treka Graney said, per the TV station.
Information about Graney's attorney was not immediately available.