Man, 25, jailed for firing shots downtown

A man with a prior record was jailed in the Edgecombe County Detention Center on firearms-related charges, in connection with a shooting downtown late last week and a robbery of a business at the Oakwood Shopping Center nearly a month ago, police said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

Bobby Lawson, 25, was arrested as a result of a probe that started after officers at 9:30 p.m. May 2 responded to the parking lot between the Rocky Mount Event Center and the Douglas Block and found out that two people were shot at, police said.

Police said that the preliminary investigation found that one of the people who was shot at had approached the suspect, who was sitting in a Polaris Slingshot three-wheel vehicle.

After the person walked away, police allege that the suspect appeared to draw a pistol and fired in the direction of the two people.

The officers found three fired cartridge cases and processed the scene for fingerprints, police said.

The probe led to a search warrant being obtained and executed at an address in the 200 block of Park Avenue behind the former O.R. Pope Elementary School campus, police said.

Detectives said they were able to recover evidence in connection with the probe of the shooting, police said.

Additionally, evidence was found in connection with a previously unsolved armed robbery that occurred on April 13 at the 252 Smoke off North Fairview Road, police said.

Lawson is charged with two counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count of felony robbery with a dangerous weapon, District Court records online said.

Lawson also is charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of misdemeanor discharging a firearm in the Rocky Mount city limits, the records said.

Edgecombe County sheriff's jail records online said that Lawson is being held under $100,000 secured bond.

The District Court in Edgecombe County on May 6 appointed an attorney to represent Lawson and ordered Lawson to be back before the court May 22, the court records said.

Lawson had listed an address in the 200 block of Park Avenue, the court records said.

State Public Safety records said that Lawson was convicted in December 2022 in Lenoir County for felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and misdemeanor larceny.