Evidence lacking to make arrest

Police say they do not have enough evidence to lay charges against a person suspected of shooting bottles with a rifle in a residential area in Charlottetown.

Charlottetown Police Deputy Chief Brad MacConnell says a person of interest seen in the area where shots were fired was identified, but he adds there is insufficient evidence to link the individual to the shooting.

MacConnell says two people called police to report gun shots being fired near their home at the end of Norwood Road.

Shattered bottles and spent rifle casings were found in a pitted area close to the residences.

He says the shooting could have resulted in a charge of careless use of a firearm which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

One resident, who asked not to be identified, says she was outside her home when she heard the gun fire.

At first, she thought the blasts were those that are fired off at the airport to scare birds away.

When she heard a woman shout “stop shooting the gun’’, she was able to distinguish the sound of a shot gun being cocked and fired. She heard about a dozen shots.

“It was loud… chit-chit, bang, chit-chit bang… it was scary,’’ she says.

“Once the police told me that it looked like he was shooting bottles and it was away from the houses, you have this relief… but I still thought that, this is crazy.’’

The woman adds children often play outside near where the shooting took place.