For the second night in a row shots were fired in the 300 block of Madison Street Wednesday and this time an 18-year-old was sent for medical treatment.
Roanoke Rapids police Chief Bobby Martin said this morning a house whose occupants had nothing to do with the matter was also struck by bullets from the shooting.
Police responded to Wednesday’s shooting shortly after 11:15 p.m. after receiving a report that someone was shot.
The officers learned the 18-year-old had been shot in his upper body and was already en route to the hospital when officers arrived. He was transported to another medical facility for further treatment and is in stable condition.
In the last month there have been at least four shootings in and around that area. Martin said investigators have determined that three of them are related.
Martin said the department fears that innocent victims, even children, could be possibly harmed if the violence in the 300 blocks of Madison and Monroe continue. Victims in these cases have been young, he said. “The way young adults deal with violence or when they get upset is entirely different from the days of old. They will pull a gun quicker than going hands on. We have a lot of families with young kids there. There was a house that was hit that had nothing to do with it. Bullets don’t discriminate against who they hit.”
Martin said investigators believe the related shootings are tied to some altercation between the shooters and victims. “I would have to agree they are retaliating because of the altercations they had at one time.”
However, Martin said, the innocents are not considered in these shootings. “We have families down there trying to survive and live and people are coming down shooting like the wild, wild west.”
When shootings last year became an issue in the 300 block of Franklin Street the police department talked to members of the community and landlords. “We are doing the same thing now — trying to work them as we get them. For right now it (the Franklin Street efforts) have seemed to work.”
Martin said in a statement on the matter this morning the police department is asking anyone with information to call them at 252-533-2810 or Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444. “If you have seen something, say something. This is the only way we can stop the violence occurring in these neighborhoods. The police department continues to follow up on these incidents and hopes to make arrests soon.”
