Stray bullet hits Willard apartment complex

WILLARD, Mo. – Willard police responded Sunday night to reports of multiple shots being fired and a bullet hitting a crowded apartment complex.

While it was determined the shots were fired in unincorporated Greene County, a bullet hit someone’s window inside city limits.

The Willard Police Department got a call at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday from someone who heard gunshots.

“They indicated that a round had ricocheted off their building, had hit their window and was lying there on the patio,” Willard Police Chief Tom McClain said.

Police officers said they could hear the shots ringing out from the police station, where they determined the sound was coming from past city limits.

Even with the help of Greene County deputies, they still never found the source of the shooting.

“It’s a wooded area,” McClain said. “It seemed to the officers that were doing the investigation that somebody was target shooting.”

After an hour and a half of searching, the firing stopped and police called off their search.

“It’s the county,” said Willard resident Corwin Eden. “We hear everything going off or exploding or people burning their trash. So it’s pretty common around here.”

Eden lives in an apartment complex across the street from the one that was hit by a bullet.

“I don’t know that we’ve ever had any problems in the ten years I’ve been here,” Eden said.

“Shooting in an area where ricochets could occur or shooting up, you know, is always a bad idea because you never know where that round is going to be landing, what kind of damage it could do,” McClain said.

Luckily, the bullet that hit a window didn’t even shatter the glass.

“It seems to me to be an isolated incident,” McClain said.

No injuries were reported.

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