Mooresville police say man jailed for 2 sex assaults could be tied to several more

Police said a man accused of raping two people is now behind bars, but investigators believe he could have assaulted several more people as far away as California.

According to the Mooresville Police Department, officers were called on Sunday to a parking lot off River Highway on Lake Norman for a sexual assault. The victim told police she had met the suspect online and that she had agreed to meet him in Mooresville on June 16.

After meeting the suspect, police said she got into his car and was taken to that parking lot. That was where he raped her, police said.

After the assault, investigators said the suspect left her in the parking lot without her car or phone.

ALSO READ: Former Myers Park HS student sues district for failing to prevent her sex assault

Detectives said they were able to identify the suspect using information from the victim about him and his car. She said he was a middle-aged man and drove a silver or gray Dodge Charger with a black stripe.

Police said they took out arrest warrants for the crime.

While they were investigating, detectives said the Huntersville Police Department contacted them about a second victim. Huntersville police said this victim was in the hospital there and had been sexually assaulted by the same suspect on Tuesday. When detectives interviewed her, Huntersville police said she gave a description that matched the one the first victim had given of the suspect, his car and how she was assaulted.

Huntersville police said the second victim had also met the suspect online and had agreed to meet him in Mooresville. She said she was driven to the same remote parking lot, where the suspect raped her and left the scene, investigators said. Huntersville detectives took out more warrants for this second assault.

ALSO READ: CMPD: Man charged with rape, kidnapping 1 day after being released from prison for sexual assault

Police said Michael Brandon Shinn, 29, of Sherrills Ford was charged with two counts of second-degree forcible rape and one count of a second-degree forcible sex offense.

Story continues

Mooresville police said as the investigation has continued, they learned Shinn was targeting women online and may be involved in similar incidents in other jurisdictions. For that reason, MPD is working with several agencies — as far away as California — on similar…