No injuries reported in Sunday evening shooting

No injuries were reported Sunday evening in the wake of a shooting that left two bullet holes in a residence in the 400 block of South Benton Street.

Sgt. Rick Schmidt of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said officers received several calls, beginning at 6:07 p.m., about shots being fired at Bloomfield and Hanover streets.

Officers who arrived at the scene two minutes later heard a variety of reports from bystanders, Schmidt said.

Witnesses told police two or three black males were shooting at each other from different directions, with some leaving on foot and some leaving in cars, he said.

"Whether they knew each other or not, I don't know," Schmidt said.

While officers were investigating, someone in front of a house in the 400 block of South Benton Street flagged them down to report that a house in that block had been shot, he said.

Witnesses directed the officers to a vacant lot at the corner of Benton Street and Jefferson Avenue, where they recovered three bullet casings, Schmidt said.

Two officers collecting the casings said as far as they knew, no one was injured.

Neighbors said the shooting involved several people on foot and a man who had just gotten out of a car.

"I was out here, and all I know is they started shooting. I hit the deck," said Damon Easley of Marion, Ill., who was visiting friends in the neighborhood. "... It just happened so fast. We never knew there was any trouble."

Easley said he saw a man get out of a dark blue car -- possibly a Hyundai -- and then the gunfire began.

Danny Bowen, who lives a few houses north of the vacant lot, said he heard about six shots fired from what sounded like a small-caliber weapon.

"I heard, 'Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop,'" Bowen said. "It's like a firecracker going off."

The shooting remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Cape Girardeau Police Department at 335-6621 or the Crime Stoppers hotline at 339-6312.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Benton Street and Jefferson Avenue, Cape Girardeau, Mo.