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“We must never let up on our efforts to reduce violence, keep illegal guns out of the hands of those who break the law, and prevent our young people from giving in to the temptations of gangs. I will always ensure that our Police Department has the tools necessary to keep our streets and neighborhoods safe.”
Police Chief Alex Hayes said today that officers still are investigating the five shootings that occurred Wednesday and early today, and they plan to take more action tonight.
Police made arrests in connection with the shootings overnight, he said. More details were expected to be released later today.
"We're going to try some additional steps tonight," Hayes added, declining to go into detail.
He also said that the Nebraska State Patrol would be helping in and around the area "on the traffic side of things."
"It's just an increased presence," he said. "It makes people feel safer."
If more officers are in an area making traffic stops, Hayes said, people should be less inclined to be driving around with guns in their cars.
Hayes said the weather likely was a factor in Wednesday's outbreak. "People typically want to get out" when it gets warmer. "People who do bad things want to get out, too,"
he said.
Seven people were wounded, and two people were fighting for their lives following the five shootings that occurred about three miles from one another in and around north Omaha.
All took place over less than nine hours Wednesday.
The first two shootings came in broad daylight, blocks from a school, churches and abandoned houses.
The next two happened shortly after 10 p.m., within a few blocks of one another. One man was found down in the street and another was shot in a minivan.
The fifth shooting call came after 12:30 a.m., with a victim found outside near 30th and Whitmore Streets.
The afternoon shootings did not appear to be related, though police were trying to determine whether any of the nighttime shootings might be connected.
Authorities did not immediately release the names of the injured, and police would not discuss whether they think the shootings were gang-related.
No arrests were announced by early Thursday.
The first shooting happened near the intersection of 40th and Maple Streets, close to a neighborhood convenience store. Officers in the area reported hearing 20 to 25 shots shortly after 4:30 p.m., and several 911 callers reported hearing shots.
Terri Bostock said she heard the gunfire as she walked through a nearby alley toward Bill's Convenience Store. Six shots, at first, followed by several more.
Minutes later, Bostock's boyfriend called to say one of their friends had been hit. She would not identify the victim.
"It was a lot of shots," Bostock said. "I was scared."
Police today identified the three victims as: Jestun Haynie, 19, who was being treated in the trauma unit at Creighton, and two sisters, ages 14 and 9.
About an hour later, gunfire rang out three miles away, outside the Omaha Housing Authority's Florence Tower apartments, 5100 Florence Boulevard. A man from that scene was driven to Creighton with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Authorities today identified the victim as Birdell Murrell Jr., 25. He remained hospitalized, but the hospital declined to release his condition.
Jerry Burriell, a resident and employee at the tower, said he heard two to three gunshots. He said he saw a bleeding man outside wearing a blue or black coat and trying to open the west door of the building. The door, near the parking lot, was locked.
The shot man then went around the side of Bethlehem Baptist Church, just west of the tower. He got into a brown car that stopped to pick him up, Burriell said. Another car followed.
Burriell said four men walked to the doorway to pick up a cell phone that had been left outside. People told them not to pick it up, Burriell said, but they grabbed it and left.
Shortly after, police found a vehicle near 29th and Spencer Streets that matched the description of one seen leaving Florence Tower, Officer Michael Pecha said. Detectives were investigating whether it was connected to the shooting. Police detained two men.
Deborah Jones, who lives in the area, said her son, Omar, was one of the men detained.
"I just hope all this stuff ends," she said of the area's violence. "Why does everybody want to hurt each other?"
The third shooting, after 10 p.m. Wednesday, injured a man near 16th and Lothrop Streets. A witness described a purple, two-door car leaving the area after the shooting, headed west.
About an hour later, someone shot at a minivan a stone's throw away from where police were investigating the Lothrop shooting, seriously injuring a man inside.
Police ran to the victim, who pointed toward a fleeing car. Officers sped after it. Blocks west, another group of officers searched for suspects in one of the day's previous shootings.
And before 1 a.m., the fifth shooting injured a man north of Miller Park. He was found outside with a wound to his lower leg. He was expected to survive.
Contact the writer:
444-1068, johnny.perez@owh.com
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