Man Involved in Shooting at Wilmington Funeral Home Pleads Guilty to Drug and Gun Charges

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Charles Gilbert Green, age 29, pled guilty today to two counts of distribution of cocaine base (crack) and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, in 2021 members of the Brunswick County Vice and Narcotics Unit received information that a man that went by “CJ” was distributing narcotics in Leland. Law enforcement was able to identify “CJ” as Charles Gilbert Green. On June 2, 2021, and on September 23, 2021, law enforcement utilized a confidential informant to conduct controlled purchases of cocaine base (crack) from the defendant.

On April 2, 2022, at approximately 1:30 p.m., officers with the Wilmington Police Department were dispatched to the area of 6^th Street and Red Cross Street after receiving a ShotSpotter alert and multiple 911 calls about shots fired. Upon arrival, officers located one person suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and he was immediately transported to the hospital where he received treatment and recovered from his injuries. During their investigation, officers located six fired shell casings in front of the John H. Shaw’s Son Funeral Home on Red Cross Street, where people were gathered for a funeral. Five fired shell casings were also found on the southeast corner of Red Cross and North 6^th Street. Officers were able to locate security camera footage which showed Green firing multiple shots from the southeast corner of Red Cross Street towards a group of individuals standing near the funeral home where the shell casings were found.  Green then got into a white Ford Flex and fled the scene. Based on their review of the video footage, officers determined the shell casings found in front of the funeral home were fired in self-defense.

At the time of the shooting, Green was a convicted felon and was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition. His prior felony convictions include a conviction for common law robbery in 2018 and a conviction for possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana in 2014.  

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after Chief United States District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted the plea. Sentencing will occur before Chief United States District Judge Richard E. Myers II later this year. The FBI’s Coastal Carolina Safe Street’s Gang Task Force is leading the investigation, and Special Assistant United States Attorney William Van Trigt is prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:23-cr-00014-M.

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