By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A Salisbury man was charged this week with the January armed robbery and shooting of a man at the Lakewood Apartment complex.

The victim was shot in a struggle for a gun.

Salisbury police charged Shane Kamel Charles, 18, of Kesler Street, with felony robbery with a firearm or dangerous weapon and felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

The victim told police he walked to the store from his apartment complex on Jan. 3 and encountered a man. The victim and the suspect, later identified as Charles, had a brief casual conversation, said Detective Russ DeSantis.

After the victim returned from the store, he was again approached by Charles. The victim told police the suspect drew a gun and demanded money. The two struggled to gain control of the gun and, in the process, the victim was shot in the hand and pelvis area, DeSantis said.

The victim, who did not have life-threatening injuries, was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

Charles was issued a $5,000 secured bond and has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center. Nothing was taken during the robbery.

The same night, a Salisbury police officer was involved in a collision while responding to the Lakewood Apartments incident. A Spencer woman was waiting to make a left turn when the officer struck the rear door of the driver’s side. The woman’s SUV then struck a parked vehicle in the parking lot of AutoXpress, located near the intersection of West Innes Street and South Merritt Avenue.

Both the officer and the woman were not seriously injured and both were taken to the hospital as a precaution.