RFP Staff
♦ Several gentlemen hanging outside Firehouse Brew Pit on Lee Street at 3 a.m. Friday were startled when red pick-up truck rolled by and the driver allegedly fired a blast from the window. A “what the F kinda moment” when your ears stop ringing. No real surprise in Salisbury where a window gets shot out in Waffle House and the bullet mysteriously disappears from the premises.
A Salisbury Policeman responded quickly to the call to the corner of East Fisher and Lee Streets and adroitly turned his vehicle around before catching the red pick-up truck at Monroe and Long Street where it pulled over. The driver Andrew Richard Canup, 62, of Rowan Mill Road in the Salisbury area at first allegedly denied having a firearm, would not provide his name, and would not allow officers to search his truck. One of the officers on the scene noted a sawed off shotgun partially hidden beneath a blanket. Officers also located a rifle on the backseat floorboard. The hammer was cocked.
Both firearms showed signs of recently being fired.
Canup was handcuffed and loaded into the rear of the patrol car. He was charged with weapon-illegal discharge (misdemeanor) and possession/manufacture weapon of mass destruction (felony).
The city forbids firing a weapon within the city limits and a shotgun becomes sawed off and a “weapon of mass destruction” when it is less than 16 inches in length. Canup’s alleged shotgun was 13 5/8 inches in length.
Canup provided no reason for allegedly discharging the shotgun. No one was reported injured in the area.
It was unknown at this time if Canup had any immediate plans for dining at the Waffle House on East Innes.
Andrew Canup’s Previous Record:
The Firehouse Brew Pit:
