Created: 8/13/2009 2:00:18 PM 
Madison, NC -- Police are investigating a shooting in Rockingham County that they believe is gang related.
An eighteen-year-old is recovering from surgery at Moses Cone according to Police Chief Perry Webster.
Police suspect the victim is a gang member. He was reportedly shot at a convenient store on Hwy 704; then his brother drove him home and called 911.
Police Chief Perry Webster says gang-related fights started in the same area last week and it escalated. He says they're trying to crack down on a recent jump in street violence before it's too late. He says gangs are linked to several assaults in recent weeks.
"We have right now 16 police officers so if you've got seven, eight gangs with ten people in 'em... of course you're outnumbered there," said Webster.
A special gang investigator is examining what's behind the shooting. The gunfire even forced a nearby elementary school to go on lock down for half an hour.
"We're just hoping with this gang officer that we can kinda switch this around and get in the middle of this stuff and kind of bust it up before it gets to be a real big problem," said Webster.
The shooting suspect has still not been charged, but the police chief says he's now in jail on other charges.
In 2007, WFMY News 2 did a story on the gang problem in Madison. Gang members out numbed Madison police 22 to 1. Officers said it's a hard match-up, but they are doing the best they can to keep the gang problem get getting out of control.
At the time, Chief Webster said criminal gangs were responsible for more than half of the town's assaults, robberies, break-ins and drug crimes. He said says gangs target small communities because they know police departments don't have the man-power to fight them.
Stay with digtriad.com for the latest developments.
WFMY News 2
