Chatham County: Four juveniles shot near Cole Park Plaza

In Chatham County, deputies are investigating a Thursday report of gunshots near Cole Park Plaza.

The News & Observer published Tammy Grubb's account at 5:36 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. It cites a release from the Chatham County Sheriff's Office. A resident on Plaza Drive called around 1:26 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, the paper wrote, after hearing a vehicle go past and then shots.

That account says workers at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill reached the sheriff's office while deputies were still on the way. The workers said four juveniles were there with gunshot wounds. The paper says the juveniles drove themselves, and that they told staff they were shot near the plaza, by Plaza Drive, in the northern part of the county, just south of Chapel Hill.

What Chapelboro reported

Henry Taylor's Chapelboro story, also dated Nov. 13, cites that release and describes four juveniles injured in a Thursday afternoon shooting near the plaza. It places the Plaza Drive call at 1:26 p.m. on Nov. 12 and says the caller reported the sounds of gunshots. The passing vehicle is not in that story.

Chapelboro attributes one timing detail to UNC Hospitals Police. In the station's wording, the four injured people had already driven themselves to UNC Hospitals for treatment by the time officers got there.

What investigators said about a cause

The two writeups agree that investigators connected the shooting to a dispute the night before, and they do not use the same words. The News & Observer described a disagreement and a fight on Wednesday evening, and wrote that the shooting started there. Chapelboro quoted the release as saying the shooting "stemmed from a disagreement and physical altercation that occurred the previous evening." That quotation does not name a weekday. The paper is the one that prints Wednesday.

Both newsrooms report the office's further statement that the incident appears isolated and that there was no ongoing threat to the community. The News & Observer said the inquiry is continuing. Chapelboro said the office, as of Friday evening, still called the case open.

What was not released

On injuries, Chapelboro says the release left the severity unconfirmed and did not mention a death. The News & Observer page does not give a condition, and it does not mention a fatality. This file does not turn that gap into a finding that everyone survived or that the wounds were minor.

No juvenile is named, aged, or otherwise identified in either account. The station also says the release does not state whether anyone is a person of interest. Neither story reports an arrest or charges. Neither story prints a house number. Plaza Drive and Cole Park Plaza are the place names they use.

Related coverage

More Chatham County reporting is on the county page. A separate October crash after a chase on U.S. 421 is not this shooting: earlier file.

Triangle Local is not the Chatham County Sheriff's Office and not an emergency service. If someone is in danger, call 911.

Photos

Text-only. No photograph from The News & Observer or from Chapelboro is used.