Bullet shell lands on woman’s doorstep
Gunshots and collision frighten residents
“It was like Grand Theft Auto,” said a woman on Jensen Camp Road.
She was describing the scene outside her home Sunday night.
“I was in my living room, and I heard what sounded like fireworks. I heard pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,” she said.
“When I came outside, there was a guy stood here,” she gestured toward the sidewalk, “a guy with a black jacket, and I heard the Honda Civic kick into gear, and … the (two cars) were side by side, shooting at each other.
“It was like a movie,” she told The Telegram on Monday afternoon.
As she spoke, the sun shone brightly, birds chirped from the power lines, and children played on the sidewalk. The scene was quite the opposite from the night before.
SUSPECTS AT LARGE
In a Monday news release, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) said officers responded to the scene just before 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
They found vehicular debris on the ground, and they determined two vehicles had fled the area after numerous gunshots.
Police said the vehicles were described as a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with likely front-end damage and a dark charcoal-coloured Honda Civic with likely rear-end damage.
Shortly after, a two-vehicle collision involving cars of matching descriptions was reported near the Topsail Road-hamlyn Road intersection, but both vehicles were gone by the time police arrived.
Police said there were no injuries. They believe the incidents were targeted.
‘THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD IS GOING TO THE DOGS’
The woman on Jensen Camp Road pointed to the bracelet on her arm. She said it’s always falling off, so when she saw something shiny on her front step Sunday night, she thought it was her bracelet. When she reached down to pick it up, she realized it was a bullet shell.
“It scared the crap out of me, especially at 8:30 at night. Children are still out then,” she said.
The woman said she has lived in the area for a long time. She believes what happened Sunday night was drug-related.
“This neighbourhood is going to the dogs, and it’s a sin because there’s young children, and this is what they’re growing up seeing — crazy things like this,” she said.
RESIDENTS BEEF UP SECURITY
The woman said she’s going to install a doorbell camera, or something similar.
Another woman in the neighbourhood said her father is going to install another lock on her door, just in case.
“I feel safe in my house, but the neighbourhood isn’t that safe anymore, I don’t think,” the other woman said.
She said she heard the gunshots before she saw anything.
“That’s when I looked out my window, and I could hear the tires screeching, and the black SUV just took off down the road (with) the tire ripped off it, and it went down towards one of the other lawns, and kind of flew over. It was in the air,” she said.
“The sad thing is that I know there’s a lot of kids that live on (Jensen Camp), and right where that stop sign is, is where they wait for the school bus in the morning, and that’s exactly where it all happened,” she said, pointing at the intersection.
She said she, too, believes the incident was drug-related.
POLICE ASK FOR HELP
Another man who witnessed the scene said he believes it was drug-related as well.
He said he has lived in the area for many years, and it’s not unusual to see some level of police presence occasionally. He said just this past winter he had items stolen from his property.
“We can’t really afford to go moving anywhere else, but this is not a good neighborhood at all,” he said.
However, another man said he still feels safe living in the area because he’s not involved with drugs.
“I don’t think it’s random. None of this stuff is random,” he said.
The RNC asks that anyone with information or video footage from the Cowan Heights area between 7:30 and 9 p.m. Sunday contact police at 709-729-8000 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or nlcrimestoppers.com.