Three men have been arrested in connection with the first of five shootings that took place over eight hours beginning late Wednesday afternoon.
Deputy Police Chief Mary Newman said early Thursday afternoon that police believe a Wednesday shooting at 40th and Maple Streets is gang-related and tied to one of the fatal shootings on March 7. Three men, ages 19, 23 and 24, were killed in two separate shootings that day.
Newman said officers from the Police Department's Criminal Investigations Bureau have been reassigned to investigate the recent shootings to help prevent retaliatory shootings and make arrests before more shootings occur.
Police were investigating whether there were any other connections among Wednesday's shootings, said Officer Jacob Bettin, a police spokesman.
Three people ages 9, 14 and 19 were injured in the first shooting Wednesday, which took place about 4:30 p.m. near 40th and Maple.
Jestun R. Haynie, the 19-year-old, was on life support Thursday morning at Creighton University Medical Center after undergoing two surgeries since the shooting, a relative said.
Officers in the area reported hearing 20 to 25 shots shortly after 4:30 p.m., and several 911 callers reported hearing shots.
Haynie was shot five times, in both arms, both legs and his stomach, the relative said. Haynie was standing outside a car talking to some girls when shots were fired. He tried to help the people in the car get down when he was hit, the relative said.
The family is hopeful that he is improving, though his injuries were considered life-threatening.
The two other victims in that shooting suffered minor injuries when they were grazed. A relative said they were thankful to be doing well Thursday morning. They were treated at Creighton and released.
The three men were arrested later in the morning after police stopped a vehicle at 21st and Wirt Streets that matched the description of a vehicle seen leaving the 40th and Maple shooting scene earlier.
The three are: Laveer Belgrave, 18, 1408 Sherwood Ave.; William Belgrave, 16, 4316 N. 41st St.; and Demetrius Washington, 18, 909 N. 48th St. Each was arrested on suspicion of three counts of first-degree assault and use of a weapon to commit a felony. William Belgrave also is being held on suspicion of drug possession.
The second shooting at about 5:30 p.m. outside Florence Tower apartments, 5100 Florence Blvd. also left a victim critically injured.
Birdell Murrell Jr., 25, remained hospitalized Thursday morning, though Creighton declined to release his condition. He was driven to the hospital by private vehicle.
Police later located a vehicle near 29th and Spencer that matched the description of a vehicle seen leaving the Florence Tower area. Detectives still were investigating whether the car was connected to the shooting.
A maintenance worker at Florence Tower, which is owned by the Omaha Housing Authority, said he saw a man run up to a door at the apartment building just after he heard three pops. The worker's boss told him that the shooting was caught on videotape and that victim was shot three times.
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.
Police detained two men.
Deborah Jones, who lives in the area, said her son, Omar, was one of the men detained.
After 10 p.m. Wednesday, police who were called to 16th and Lothrop Streets found a shooting victim in the street. A witness described a purple, two-door car leaving the area after the shooting, headed west.
Alfred McBride, 31, was taken to Creighton with serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
About an hour later, someone shot at a minivan about a block away from where police were investigating the Lothrop shooting. Jorge Rodriguez, 40, was inside the van when he was hit by gunfire.
Police ran to Rodriguez, who pointed toward a fleeing car. Officers sped after it. They later found an abandoned vehicle that was being investigated as possibly connected to the shooting.
Rodriguez was taken to Creighton, where he was treated and released.
And about 12:30 a.m., 41-year-old Bill Simpson was found outside in the area of 30th and Ida Streets, north of Miller Park, with a wound to his lower leg. He was taken to Creighton with an injury that was not considered life threatening.
World-Herald staff writer Bob Glissmann contributed to this report.
Contact the writer:
444-1279, jason.kuiper@owh.com
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