Gastonia, N.C. - December 3, 2022: Detectives from the Gastonia Police Department (GPD) have charged Shiquan Eleek Ratchford, age 22, of Gastonia for the murder of Megan Michelle Tate, age 33, also of Gastonia.
At approximately 9:30 p.m. on December 2, GPD officers and Fire and Rescue personnel responded to an apartment in the 3100 block of Spring Valley Drive for the report of a shooting that just occurred.
Upon arrival, officers located Tate deceased from a gunshot wound inside an apartment. Officers identified Ratchford as the suspect who shot Tate and learned that he fled the apartment immediately after shooting her.
Officers quickly located Ratchford in the area and arrested him without incident.
The handgun that Ratchford is believed to have used to shoot Tate was located by a K9 unit from an assisting law enforcement agency behind a church on Shannon Bradley Road.
Ratchford is charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. He is being held without bond.
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Shiquan Eleek Ratchford
