An hour before a Happy Traveler clerk told police she saw three men beat, shoot and put a person into the trunk of a car, Charlotte Police received a call indicating four individuals abducted a man at gunpoint.

Four men abducted Winfred Bertrand McCain, 24, at gunpoint in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 5820 Reddman Road, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department press release.

The suspects forced McCain from one vehicle to another and left the parking lot in an unknown direction, the release stated.

An hour later, witnesses at the Happy Traveler Inn on East Innes Street, just off Interstate 85, told police they saw three men force someone out of the back seat of a vehicle, beat him, shoot him and put the body in the trunk.

Investigators are working together on the investigation and feel the two incidents may be connected.

McCain’s family has been notified and said they have not heard from him since his abduction, the release said.

The suspects are described as four black men in their 20s driving a 4-door, silver/white Toyota Camry and a 4-door, burgundy Lexus.

Anyone with information that may be related to these investigations should call Crimestoppers at (704) 334-1600 or the Salisbury Police Department at 638-5333.