Shortly before 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 28, 2026, gunfire erupted on the 900 block of Hunter Street in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Officers found 44-year-old Darren Duana Jernigan lying wounded; emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

Elizabeth City Police Department detectives, crime-scene personnel, and patrol officers processed the area and opened a homicide investigation. In the days after the shooting no suspects were publicly identified and no arrests were made. The department describes the case as active and ongoing.

Darren Jernigan’s family and neighbors are left with unanswered questions about who fired the shots and why. Did anyone in or near the 900 block of Hunter Street hear or see anything that morning?