CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A member of Charlotte City Council is calling for the creation of a crime task force following an uptown shooting on New Year’s Eve that left five people injured.

Councilman Tariq Bokhari says incidents like the NYE shooting are tough to talk about, but that’s exactly why he’s doing it.

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“This problem is not going to solve itself while we sit back and watch,” he said. “We have to get aggressive, but we have to get together as a team.”

His idea for a task force would be to combine city leaders from multiple agencies, and work to identify repeat offenders. Then, he hopes to work with state lawmakers to implement legislation that would increase the penalties for them.

“They are breaking laws,” said Bokhari. “They are ruining the quality of life for many who live here, and they should not be on the street anymore.”

Cirilo Gonzalez Cruz is one of the five people who were shot Sunday evening. He said going to see the fireworks with his wife and two sons in uptown was a last-minute decision.

“We got there – we probably had like five minutes until we heard the shots,” he said.

Gonzalez Cruz said he remembers hearing around 10 gunshots.

“We were so close,” he said. “Everyone started running away, and some people thought they were fireworks.”

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A bullet went straight through Gonzalez Cruz’s foot. While trying to shield one of his sons and locate his wife and other son, he said he didn’t even immediately realize he’d been hit.

Now, he’s scheduled for surgery to repair his badly damaged toes.

Even still, he says he feels blessed that he and his family are alive.

“We’re lucky. We’re blessed,” he said.

Nineteen-year-old Daevion Crawford was arrested for the shooting Monday and charged with five counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count of going armed to the terror of the public. His bond was raised to $1.5 million on Tuesday.

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