Person in custody after rock with hate speech thrown in Charlotte daycare window
A 36-year-old Charlotte man is in custody — arrested for ethnic intimidation and attempted murder, among other charges — after police say he threw a rock containing hate speech through the window of a daycare, and shot a park ranger.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police responded to a 911 call at the daycare Monday morning after a rock containing hate speech was thrown through the window of Marizetta Kerry Child Development Center on Beatties Ford Road.
Tyson Lee Corpening was arrested later that day and is charged with: attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, two counts of ethnic intimidation, damage to property, possession of a firearm by a felon, and threat of mass violence on educational property.
No one was injured at the daycare and police refused to share what was written in the message during a news conference but said the hate speech was directed towards children.
Police officials say the incident is connected to the shooting of a park ranger last week at the Friendship Sportsplex, which is within walking distance of the daycare. They did not say how the incidents are connected but cited their close proximity and “totality of the circumstances.”
On Nov. 27 a park ranger was shot while performing closing duties at the sportsplex. CMPD officials said during a news conference Monday that the park ranger is recovering from his injuries.
The area is a majority Black neighborhood. Corpening, according to jail booking records, is Black.
Corpening has an extensive arrest history in North Carolina and in Florida, public records show. At the time of his arrest on drug charges in 2017, court records indicated he was homeless. The charges were later dismissed, the records show.
Hate speech investigation in Charlotte
CMPD said officers partnered with the FBI to investigate. There are no other suspects at this time, but the investigation is ongoing, CMPD said in a news release late Monday.
Police are asking anyone from the public with information to contact them and to share any video footage they may have.
Anyone with information about the shooting or the rock thrown into the daycare is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or to leave a tip at charlottecrimestoppers.com.
Park ranger shot, injured at Friendship Sportsplex county park in Charlotte
