Arrest made in slaying of beloved Charlotte sandwich shop co-owner

Months after beloved Charlotte restaurant owner Scott Brooks was gunned down outside Brooks’ Sandwich House, North Carolina police have arrested a suspect in his murder.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said officers arrested 33-year-old Terry Connor Jr. on Wednesday morning and charged him with murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to WSOC-TV, police took Conner from a house on Countryside Drive in the Hidden Valley neighborhood of north Charlotte. Investigators began collecting evidence and speaking with people in the neighborhood, the television station reported.

According to WSOC, a woman at the home who knew the suspect said police arrived before dawn with a search warrant.

Authorities have not said what led to the arrest, but did say Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers, as well as SWAT, the Violent Criminal Apprehension Team and the FBI, were involved.

In an effort to find the killer, police released grainy surveillance video of two suspects and a reward was offered for information. But police said it wasn’t a tip but the determination of the lead detective that finally made their case.

“It was the lead detective and the ideas she had and the work she put into it that played the greatest part in this successful arrest,” Maj. Cam Selvey told WSOC.

Police said Conner does have a criminal history -- he was released from prison in September 2019 after serving six years for charges relating to a home invasion where he shot two people. Police are looking into whether Conner could be linked to other homicides or violent crimes.

CMPD said while the department is happy to have made an arrest in the case, there is still work to be done. There were two people at the scene where Brooks was killed and police are still searching for the second suspect.

Hours after the arrest, the Brooks family said they had been praying for this day and were finally getting some peace of mind.

“I’m not sure if it starts the healing process or not because you know, nothing is going to bring my brother back,” David Brooks, told WSOC. “Kudos to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. They were absolutely resilient in what they’ve done and they will not give up. They go far beyond what is called of them and what we are aware of."

Brooks said he is still trying to process everything, but he never gave up hope that CMPD would make an arrest. He said he eats lunch almost every day with CMPD officers and understands how hard they work.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, police said they worked tirelessly on this case and with only shadowy surveillance pictures to work with, they described it as “good, old fashion, nose-to-the-ground police work.”

Brooks also took time Wednesday to address the other murders that happened last year and those that have not been solved, which he said will not be forgotten.

“We are in the limelight because we are in this kind of business, but I want everybody to realize that there are also over 100 murders last year that included my brother and that the Charlotte Police Department, they are not on the back burner,”Brooks said.

Cox Media Group