ROCKINGHAM — Two days. Two shootings. Two injured.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a pair of shootings in consecutive days that sent two women to the hospital with minor injuries.

Monday evening, a car was driving down Earle Franklin Drive in Dobbins Heights when investigators say it was shot at seven times — with one bullet going through the passenger-side window.

The female passenger, who investigators say is about 24 years old, received scratches on her face from the broken glass.

The driver pulled the car into the parking lot of the Dollar General Store in Hamlet, where investigators began processing the scene around 7:45 p.m. The store had already closed for the night.

Despite being in an area Hamlet police say has been rife with gang violence since last May, investigators with the sheriff’s office say the incident is not believed to be gang related.

Investigators say there are not yet any suspects in this case.

On Tuesday afternoon, investigators say a woman was shot in the hand during a robbery at a residence on Blewett Falls Road.

Chief Deputy Mark Gulledge said the home was set up as a poker house with “illegal electronic games inside.”

The victim was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

No charges had been filed as of late Wednesday evening.

Investigators say both cases are still under investigation.

Although Monday’s shooting didn’t happen at Dollar General, Hamlet police are still searching for suspects in an armed robbery that happened in the store’s parking lot.

Detective Lt. Randy Dover told the Daily Journal earlier this month that a woman was leaving Dollar General around 6:20 p.m. on Feb. 3 when two men approached her and stole her purse.

Dover said both men were armed with handguns and wearing black masks.

The pocketbook was recovered two streets away behind a church on High Street, with all its contents dumped out. Dover said after the victim went through everything, only $5 in cash was missing.

About two hours after she was robbed, Dover said a man was going to lock up the building behind his Spring Street home when two men brandishing knives approached and robbed him.

He said late Wednesday there are still no suspects in either case.

Anyone with information concerning any of these crimes is encouraged to call the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at 910-895-3232, Hamlet Police Department at 910-582-2551 or Richmond County Crime Stoppers at 910-997-5454.

Reach William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_Toler.

William R. Toler | Daily Journal Investigators with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office still have no suspects in a Monday shooting that sent a woman to the hospital with scratches on her face from broken glass.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_carshot2.jpgWilliam R. Toler | Daily Journal Investigators with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office still have no suspects in a Monday shooting that sent a woman to the hospital with scratches on her face from broken glass.
No arrests made in either case

By William R. Toler

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