Daniel Prince
Shots fired at residences, vehicles on Saturday
The Union Public Safety Department is investigating several shooting incidents that happened Saturday. At just after 1 a.m. Saturday, units were dispatched to shots being fired at a house on Lipsey Street. PFC Cody Nations spoke with a woman who stated she heard one gunshot and then heard her kitchen window break. She said she didn’t know where the shot had come from. She said she had been told that an altercation had occurred at a residence on Porter Street, but she didn’t know if this was connected to that incident or not. Officers checked the areas of Lipsey and Porter streets to try and find spent shell casings, but they didn’t find any. The case was forwarded to investigations.
A couple of hours later, officers were dispatched to South Pinckney Street and Porter Street for another report of shots fired. Union County Deputy Justin Littleton stopped his vehicle in the roadway and informed Sgt. Bryan Shaver that he saw a shell casing in the roadway. Shaver saw a 9 mm shell casing in the roadway. He and other officers found a total of six spent shell casings in the roadway. The investigation into the incident found that there was damage to the fascia board around the top of the porch of a residence on South Pinckney Street. They also found that a white Honda had its back passenger window shattered by a bullet that lodged in the ceiling lining of the vehicle. PFC Nations and Sgt. Shaver saw several black males standing outside a residence on Porter Street. They were able to identify two of them from prior dealings. The males stated they didn’t know anything about the shooting. Shaver saw two shell casings lying in plain view in the yard of the residence, and he told Nations to mark them so they could be collected and photographed. The report states the male subjects began to get hostile, telling the officers to focus on the area of South Pinckney Street and not on Porter Street. One of the subjects picked up one of the shell casings and threw it out of sight of the officers. Another subject picked up the other shell casing and disposed of it, as well. Shaver and Nations advised them that they were hindering an investigation. They cursed at the officers and taunted them as they walked away. The case has been forwarded to investigations.
A third shooting incident was reported Saturday afternoon. PFC Thomas Willingham was dispatched to a hit-and-run on Rice Avenue Extension. He spoke with the victim on scene, who stated that he was sitting at the red light waiting to turn left. He said a white Jeep Cherokee had turned right onto Rice Avenue Extension and fired a shot into the driver’s side door. He said the Jeep then struck the rear of his vehicle before driving off, heading toward Industrial Park Road. He said he did not know who was driving the vehicle. Sgt. Allen found two shell casings in the roadway. That case has also been forwarded to investigations.