North Carolina father speaks out after teen son killed in shooting
Dec 20, 2024
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — Flowers now sit where 17-year-old Terrick Strudwick was shot and killed at the Cornwallis Road apartment complex in Durham on Tuesday night.
The young victim’s father spoke with CBS 17 over the phone on his way back home.
"It makes your heart stop beating," father Terrick Strudwick Sr. said. "Just to wonder where would he be in life, the potential to see him grow cut short."
Previously: Durham teenager charged with murder of 17-year-old, police say
On Thursday, Durham police announced the arrest of 16-year-old Corinthian Poole, who is charged as an adult with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
"It’s just a lot of violence going on in the City of Durham," Strudwick Sr. said. "It’s a lot of violence going on everywhere in the world, but specifically in that area and with young teens. I don’t understand."
It’s been two days since the shooting took place, and people living at Cornwallis Road said bullets were flying everywhere. A car still parked at the scene of the crime with a bullet hole and shattered windows provides a harrowing glimpse of what took place that night.
One witness, who didn’t want to show her face, tells CBS 17 she called the police as bullets nearly hit her children.
"I had six bullet holes come through their room, and they were really crying real bad," Cornwallis Road resident Shakia Terry said. "So they had to crawl on the floor to come out of the room."
The new arrest provides a little bit of comfort for Strudwick’s father. But he said there may be other suspects out there.
"It's going to always be a question mark of what could have been," Strudwick Sr. said.
The 17-year-old was a former student at Hillside High School. Durham Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Lewis released a statement on the incident.
“The loss of any young life is a tragic occurrence. We send our sincerest condolences to his family and are embracing our scholars and community as we grapple with this loss.”