On June 14, 2023, at about 2:00 p.m., 21-year-old Paul Ja’Varius Tate Jr. was fatally shot in the parking lot of the Rozzelle Crossing shopping center on Mount Holly-Huntersville Road in northwest Charlotte, North Carolina. Witnesses reported an altercation between Tate and a 16-year-old individual during which the juvenile produced a firearm and shot Tate multiple times. Emergency responders pronounced Tate dead at the scene. The 16-year-old surrendered later that day and was charged with murder; because of the suspect’s age, no identity has been released and the juvenile is being held in a juvenile detention facility pending further proceedings.

Tate was a freshman at Livingstone College in Salisbury, where he was known as a promising basketball player with NBA aspirations and a graduate of West Mecklenburg High School in 2020. He was active in community work, including the Benton Youth Initiative, and was remembered by faculty and classmates as a joyful presence who had recently embraced his faith. The shooting has renewed discussion in Charlotte about youth violence and calls for stronger preventive supports.

If anyone knew Paul, saw the incident, or has information about what happened at Rozzelle Crossing that afternoon, please share what you know.