CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man accused of shooting into a van and hitting a 3-year-old boy appeared before a Mecklenburg County judge on Tuesday.

The shooting happened on Sloping Oaks Road near North Sharon Amity Road around 8 p.m. on Sunday. A 3-year-old boy suffered serious injuries in the shooting, according to a police incident report.

Investigators say James Raeford shot into a van in the parking lot of an apartment complex, striking the child. He then fled the scene. The boy was shot in the lower back and is expected to survive, according to investigators.

Raeford, 39, was arrested on Monday and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury, and six counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied

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