Bullet fired into Cape home daycare; no one hurt

No one was hurt Friday afternoon when a stray bullet passed through the window of a home day care facility on South Benton Street.

About 1 p.m., police received a report of multiple shots in the area.

A bullet hole could be seen in a window on the north side of a home day care business at 416 S. Benton St.

An officer at the scene said the bullet struck a wall inside the house and became lodged in the drywall.

Police do not believe the house was the shooter's intended target, a police spokesman said.

Cape Girardeau city and county police investigate the scene of multiple gunshots in the 400 block of South Benton Street on Thursday, March 7, 2014 in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

"We don't believe that house or anybody inside was involved," said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Hickey said vehicles fled from the area after multiple shots were fired.

Police stopped a vehicle in the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue that had been seen in the area at the time of the shooting, and officers were trying to determine whether the occupants were suspects, victims or witnesses, Hickey said.

He said one occupant of the vehicle was taken into custody on unrelated warrants.

Officers received no reports of injuries, Hickey said.

Police went to a house across the street, where Hickey said they believed they might find one of the involved parties, and spoke with a visibly agitated woman.

"Ain't nobody in this house! Nobody!" she shouted.

The woman told officers she was on the phone when she heard gunfire -- one to two shots -- and left because she was scared.

Officers from the Cape Girardeau Police Department and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department searched the area for casings and tried to determine the bullet's path into the house.

Scanner chatter initially indicated someone had been seen in the area with an AK-47, but Cpl. Jeff Bonham of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said police had been unable to verify that.

"We're not finding any evidence to the AK-47 at this point," he said.

Hickey said police were processing evidence and talking to potential witnesses.

"We're still speaking to possible witnesses in the area," he said.

Hickey said there was a possibility the shooter still could be in the area.

As a precaution, schools in the area were placed on lockdown for about half an hour Friday afternoon, Hickey said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

416 S. Benton St., Cape Girardeau, MO