Man shot dead inside ambulance by “friend”

An ambulance was warped from its intended life-saving purpose into a bloody theatre of execution yesterday, as a horrific and perplexing shooting unfolded in North Carolina.

Reports of a scuffle involving five or six people first brought Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to the parking lot of a Days Inn and Azteca Mexican Restaurant in south Charlotte at around 4am Wednesday, according to WBTV.

Shortly afterwards, a Medic ambulance also arrived on the scene, after one of the men in the altercation, 34-year-old Jeremy Whitted, told officers that he was having trouble breathing.

While receiving treatment inside the ambulance, Whitted asked paramedics if a friend from the group, 32-year-old Prentice Bess, might be allowed to come in to assist him.

Bess was initially denied entry but returned a few moments later and shot Whitted “several times,” police said.

Despite efforts to save his life, Whitted was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bess was arrested immediately, and no paramedics or officers came to harm in what police described as a “very volatile situation.”

The motive for killing a supposed friend undergoing medical treatment in full view of police and paramedics is as yet unexplained.

What is certain is that Bess faces charges for murder.