Cape banquet hall scene of bullet barrage; police seeking shooters

The area around a Cape Girardeau banquet hall, where an after-prom party was being held, turned into a shooting gallery early Sunday in which 50 to 60 shots were fired by at least three different individuals, police said.

The incident occurred around 12:30 a.m. outside the River Valley Banquet Hall at 631 S. Sprigg St., said police Sgt. Joey Hann.

Surprisingly, there were no injured victims, he said.

Hann said two females were reportedly bitten by a pit bull after they fled into a nearby yard to escape the gunfire.

Police found 50 to 60 shell casings from at least four or five different caliber weapons.

Eight vehicles were struck by bullets, Hann said Monday.

Officers arrested Maurice Patterson Jr., 19, of Cape Girardeau who discarded a handgun as he tried to flee the scene when officers sought to detain him.

Patterson had a .380 automatic handgun in his possession, but it was not a match for the spent rounds fired in the incident, Hann said.

Patterson was charged with resisting arrest.

Hann said the shooting apparently was sparked by some type of disagreement. But he said police don’t know the subject of the disagreement.

“Currently, we are following up with any parties who were on the scene and we are encouraging any witnesses to offer any information they may have on the incident,” Hann said.

At this point, “no one wants to give information” to the police, he said. But he added witnesses can provide information anonymously.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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