Second arrest made in Raleigh Food Lion parking-lot shootout case

A second arrest has pushed the Creedmoor Road Food Lion shootout beyond a single street dispute and into a broader public-safety case in north Raleigh. Frankie Grimes Jr., 31, was arrested in connection with the April 14 gunfire at 5633 Creedmoor Crossing, near Creedmoor Road and West Millbrook Road, and now faces felony conspiracy-assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and felony conspiracy-robbery with a dangerous weapon.

The new charge matters because it suggests investigators believe the violence unfolded as more than a spontaneous confrontation. Raleigh police said witnesses saw two vehicles pull into the parking lot, get into a verbal altercation and then start shooting at each other in front of a busy grocery store where shoppers would normally expect a routine morning stop. Officers found shell casings and a discarded weapon at the scene, and police were still searching for the driver and any occupants of a second vehicle described as a silver Nissan Rogue.

One man was injured in the exchange. Jalen Watson, 21, was the first person arrested after he walked into UNC Rex Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Watson faces assault and drug-related charges, including assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and marijuana-related counts. With one suspect already in custody and another now added to the case, police appear to be building a wider account of who took part in the shootout and how the confrontation escalated.

Raleigh Police Chief Rico Boyce has urged anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers, a signal that investigators still want help reconstructing the full sequence of events. That open call also underscores a larger question for Wake County residents: whether the threat to the public was contained quickly enough after gunfire broke out in a busy shopping area in broad daylight.

The Food Lion at this location is listed as open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., which helped make the shooting especially alarming for shoppers and nearby residents. In a county centered on Raleigh, where UNC Rex Hospital and WakeMed Raleigh are among the main trauma-care destinations, the case has become a reminder of how fast a parking-lot argument can turn into a gun violence scene that leaves police, hospital staff and neighbors sorting out the damage long after the shots are fired.