A shooting took place in Strong over the weekend, damaging multiple vehicles but leaving no people injured.
“We’re not to the end of this road yet. What I can say now is that there was nobody hit and we just need to verify a couple accounts of some of the witnesses before we move any further,” said Capt. Jeff Stinson in the criminal investigation division of the Union County Sheriff’s Office. “It depends on who you ask exactly what happened, and that’s what we’re trying to sort out.”
According to their police report, a deputy from the Union County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a residence on the west side of Strong in reference to a terroristic, or threatening, act.
A witness told police they were hosting a gathering at the residence when an argument broke out and a man in attendance pulled a gun.
As the witness and others yelled at the man to stop, reminding him that children were also in attendance, the man said he didn’t care and began advancing on others gathered in the front yard of the residence, according to the police report.
The man began shooting, damaging two vehicles parked in front of the residence. One vehicle damaged belongs to the person who lives at the residence, while the other belongs to the city of Strong. Officials at Strong City Hall could not be reached by press time for comment.
In her examination of the crime scene, the responding UCSO deputy discovered two different sized shell-casings. Witnesses said only the one man fired shots, though another person with a gun was spotted near the scene later.
“Anything that’s causing a disparity between what witnesses are saying and what we find in terms of physical evidence – if it doesn’t make sense, it’s important, and that’s a part of why we have to go back and look at the totality of things, to figure out, truly, what happened,” Stinson said. “That’s kind of what we’re in the midst of now.”
About an hour after the initial report, a second call was made to the UCSO to report another man with a gun near the same residence. The person making the call reported a man standing in the roadway and yelling while brandishing a gun.
Police were not able to find the second man after a search of the area.
Stinson said this shooting incident is still under investigation, and as such, could not give many additional details outside of what the police report says. The UCSO is still interviewing witnesses, though Stinson did say he expects charges to be forthcoming.
“That’s really going to depend on all the people we talk to, all the statements we get, and how those coalesce and fit into the law,” Stinson said.
Caitlan Butler can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].