Raleigh neighborhood on edge after 2 wounded in random shooting

Posted: Jun 23, 2019 / 07:55 PM EDT

Updated: Jun 23, 2019 / 07:55 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Two people are recovering after being shot in Raleigh Sunday morning and police are still looking for who is responsible.

The victims who were shot on Bragg Street are expected to recover, according to police, but many are saddened to hear about the crime.

“To know it’s still going on just breaks my heart,” said Robert Wagner, a former Raleigh police officer. “That area was my first assigned beat and where I stayed pretty much my whole career.”

Neighbors told CBS 17 they heard about six gunshots woke them up around 8:30 a.m.

Police say the shooting was random.

For his seven years wearing a badge, Wagner made it his goal to get to know the community.

“Through that relationship, I got to find ways to actually prevent crime instead of waiting for it to happen and catching it,” Wagner said.

He did that partly by digging into what was behind the crime.

“By the time they’re 27, 28-years-old, they believe they’re either going to be dead or in prison, and a lot of things they believe is their way out of that is either through entertainment or sports,” Wagner said.

That gave him the idea to make the film “Bragg N East.”

Inspired by true stories on Bragg Street, the short film gave the neighborhood the opportunity to escape through entertainment and learn about acting and film making.

The film won several awards while showing the benefits of community policing.

The ideas Wagner shares are to people to keep striving toward, especially after another act of violence, he said.