Here is a lovely holiday remembrance from Kenneth Branch, a Raleigh reader and Wake County's principal of the year for 2012. He is now retired:

Orange County sheriff’s deputies are investigating a shooting Tuesday evening in northern Hillsborough.

Deputies do not believe the shooting was random, a spokesman said. The male victim was treated at Duke University Hospital for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his side and released, deputies reported.

According to reports, the man was sitting in a gray Honda around 6:54 p.m. outside the BP station at the corner of N.C. 86 and U.S. 70 when someone shot him. The man ran into the store, and the clerk called 911, deputies reported.

 Demario Eugene Carr, 26, of Davinci Street has died as a result of suffered in a Saturday shooting on the Durham Freeway, Durham Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael announced this morning

According to investigators, this incident does not appear to be random. No charges have been filed but investigators are following several leads.

According to police, about 3 a.m. Saturday the unidentified victim was a passenger in a northbound vehicle; a second vehicle came beside the first and an occupant fired multiple rounds that struck the victim in the face and the vehicle in which he was riding.

The victim’s driver went first to Durham Police Headquarters, which officers intitially thought was the crime scene. An ambulance was summoned to take the victim to the hospital and, once police learned what had actually happened, they blocked off a section of the Freeway near the Roxboro Street exit for about two hours to investigate.

Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to call police Investigator S. Pate at 919-560-4440, ext. 29332 or Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.
 

Two men found shot in a Holloway Street parking lot Wednesday appear to have shot each other, according to a preliminary Durham Police report.

Police have identified the wounded as Christopher Derrick Judd, 22, of Durham and Daniel Terrell Lucas, 25, of Raleigh. Both are being treated for serious injuries at Duke University Hospital.

No charges have been filed yet, but the case remains under investigation.

Orange County Sheriff's Investigator Chris Upchurch said today his team is still trying to identify the victim of a fatal shooting at the Platinum Royale strip club late Saturday night. He said the man was Hispanic but could release no additional information about him. "I'm still trying to verify some information about him," Upchurch said. Another man and a woman were injured in the shooting, and Upchurch declined to release their names pending additional investigation.

Outdoor writer's convention kicks off in Michigan.

See photos from the "Women on Target" clinic that teaches women to shoot and safely handle firearms. Staff photos by John Rottet.

See photos from a shooting rampage in N.Y. that claimed 14 lives.

See photos from the scene of shootings at a N.C. nursing home that killed eight.