On the morning of February 17, 2023, 71-year-old Leon Mack was found inside a truck on North Poplar Street in the Fourth Ward neighborhood of Uptown Charlotte with a gunshot wound. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene after Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers responded to a call around 10:25 a.m. Family and friends remember Mack as a generous man who had recently moved to the Poplar Grove Apartments; mourners held a vigil and left flowers and letters on his SUV parked outside his home.

Shortly after the shooting, 51-year-old Terry Thompson was apprehended near the scene and charged with murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Thompson had been released from prison after serving 14 years for a violent robbery, a detail that has heightened community concern. Authorities have not disclosed the motive or other circumstances that led to the shooting, and the investigation remains active.

If anyone saw activity on North Poplar Street that morning or has information about Mack or the events leading up to his death, please contact investigators.