Gunfire erupts near elementary school

Shots rang out on Chancery Street at rush hour Wednesday, but no one is anxious to tell police what happened ‘ despite the fact officers found a bullet-riddled car shortly after the mysterious shooting.

According to police reports, shots were heard at precisely 5:23 p.m. Wednesday in the vicinity of Auto Expressions on the corner of Towles Avenue next to Bobby Ray Elementary. Nearby residents and business employees said they heard anywhere from three to five gunshots.

Some of the people who heard the shots reported looking over to the auto clean-up shop to see numerous people scattering, jumping into vehicles and fleeing the scene immediately after gunfire erupted.

‘We believe the shooting is going to be coincidental to the location,’ said McMinnville Police Chief Charlie Sewell. ‘We think this is a spill over from a fight that started perhaps as long ago as several years. It was rekindled a couple days ago and the shooting happened there.’

Police say the normally bustling business was deserted when they arrived minutes after the incident, as they found only broken glass and three spent shell cartridges. However, police did stop a vehicle nearby and found a rear window had been shot out of the car and that a fresh bullet hole was in one of the doors. The occupants chose not to share their recollections with police.

One alleged witness who later came forward told police he witnessed the incident, saying a black male wearing a red hat pulled out a pistol and began firing outside the clean-up shop.

Police combed the area looking for witnesses and a gun which was reported to have been thrown from a fleeing vehicle, but no firearm was located.

While people involved in the incident may chose not to involve the police in settling the matter, lawmen say charges will be leveled against the shooter if one is ever found due to the fact he opened fire in a public place next to a school. The shop is also located on a high-traffic street and in a neighborhood that is also heavily populated.

Police are continuing their investigation and Sewell says he expects to have an arrest in the ‘very near future.’

Auto Expressions has been a trouble spot for years and was the focus of a district attorney’s investigation in 2002. Back then, one person was arrested and two more were indicted in relation to drug activity there.

At the time, then-District Attorney Dale Potter said he wanted to see the business shut down and padlocked.