North Carolina Man Fires Shots At Couple During Drug Deal Mistaking Them For Russian Mafia

A man from Charlotte, North Carolina, opened fire on a couple in a car, mistaking them to be members from the Russian mafia.

During a hearing Monday (May 18), District Court Judge Jim Jackson said, 36-year-old Michael Scott Keeter, of Bantry Lane in Charlotte, owed money to the Russian mafia. He was coordinating a drug deal at the Stuart Cramer High School when the couple drove by the area. He then fired multiple shots at their vehicle.

According to Gaston County District Attorney Locke Bell, the couple was innocent and had no connection to Keeter. He said the couple had no idea there was a drug deal going on in the parking lot of the school. The identities of the victims have not been revealed.

"I was just at Stuart Cramer High School and got shot at," the victim told 911 dispatch.

The man and his out of town girlfriend were in a blue 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS at Stuart Cramer High School Friday night (May 15) when they were shot at. He was showing his girlfriend the community where he had grown up.

“We were just driving around having a good time, and some guy stopped, literally got out of his car, pointed a gun at me," the man said in the 911 call.

The man put the car in reverse as Keeter showered shots at them. One bullet flew inches away from their heads and through the seat.

According to the Cramerton police, the couple was lucky enough not to be killed.

“I would say we were inches away from a double homicide,” Cramerton Police Department Captain T.N. Jones told local media. “Somebody was watching over them that they didn’t get hit.”

According to the reports, Keeter fired multiple rounds from a 9mm handgun with bullets punching through the hood and windshield of the victim’s vehicle. One of the shots hit the tire, flattening it.

However, despite the flat tire, the man managed to drive out of the scene to a safe distance before reporting the incident to the police.

Jones after reviewing surveillance footage from the scene and also receiving information from a witness concluded that “They had an encounter (with Keeter) that was completely random, and they didn’t know each other whatsoever,” as per the local media.

Keeter was identified as the suspect within four hours after the incident. On Saturday night, with the help of Charlotte Mecklenburg Police and the FBI, he was taken into custody.

Keeter is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling/vehicle, and discharging a firearm into an occupied property. A $5 million bond is set on him.