AHOSKIE – One Bertie County man is behind bars while another is being sought for a Dec. 30 shooting here that left two injured.

Tirelle McCoy Jones, 19, of Blackjack Road, Kelford, was arrested Wednesday. He was charged by Ahoskie Lt. Detective Jeremy Roberts with one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill by inflicting serious injury.

Jones, who made his first appearance on Friday in Hertford County District Court, remains jailed in Winton under a $300,000 secured bond.

Roberts reported that warrants have been drawn, in the same shooting, for the arrest of 20-year-old Jaronta Raynor of the Glovers Crossroads community in the Colerain area.

Raynor faces the same charges as well as possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is described as a black male, standing approximately 6’-3” and weighing between 185-to-195 pounds with shoulder length dreads.

According to Roberts, the names of both suspects surfaced during the investigation conducted by the Ahoskie Police Department.

“The names of Tirelle Jones and Jaronta Raynor became known to us upon the interviews we conducted of witnesses at the scene of the shooting,” Roberts said.

That investigation led Ahoskie Police to conclude there were two suspects, each firing a weapon. Those bullets found two victims – Tishone Askew, 20, of Ahoskie – shot in the upper torso near the left shoulder – and Rashawn Mercer, 19, of Ahoskie who suffered a gunshot wound to his leg.

Both victims were taken to Roanoke-Chowan Hospital and later transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville. There, Mercer was treated and released while Askew spent a few days in the hospital before being sent home.

Roberts said the investigation remains open and other charges are pending. Those with knowledge on Raynor’s whereabouts or those with any additional information concerning the shooting are urged to immediately contact the Ahoskie Police Department at 332-5011. All information is kept confidential.

The shootings occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 30 as a holiday dance was ending at the American Legion Building, located at the corner of North and McGlohon streets in downtown Ahoskie.

Shots rang out as a portion of the crowd leaving the dance were in a small parking lot located between the Embarq Building, which faces McGlohon Street, and Carolina Home Care, an office facing Main Street. There was a large group of people walking up McGlohon Street towards Main Street at that time.