Mobile neighbors recall street racing at same time, place of shooting that injured 6

UPDATE (Aug. 26, 5:19 p.m.): Shooting might not have been the only illegal thing that happened early Sunday morning before six people were left with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds at the intersection of Paper Mill Road and McKinley Street.

Residents in the area said they heard what sounded like street racing before they heard too many gunshots to count.

“I heard cars. I heard them going up and down the street,” Miskia Barnes, a nearby resident, said.

Barnes said it’s not unusual to see street racing on Paper Mill Road. After a while, she just learned to tune it out.

But it’s hard to tune out the amount of gunfire she heard.

“It was a lot,” Barnes said. “I couldn’t tell you. It was almost, sounded like to me, maybe almost over 50, 60, maybe close to 100 shots.”

Mobile Police were seen Monday using a K-9 to search the area. Soon after they left, a WKRG crew saw a bullet casing on the ground near where they were filming.

There’s no indication whether the bullet casing is related to the shooting, but investigators have returned to the scene to pick it up.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if [bullet casings] were in a lot of places!” Barnes said.

Other residents said it was a younger crowd who had met to race on Sunday night with their cars lined Paper Mill Road.

“It was just a group of teenagers just out there lined up and things went wrong,” one resident said.

WKRG drone footage shows the amount of donut and burnout marks left at the neighborhood’s entrance over the years.

Barnes lives next to where the shooting happened, close enough that people were running through her yard to get away from shots.

“I’m right here on this corner, and my house got my grandkids and stuff in there. Those bullets could have come through the house,” Barnes said. “If y’all want to do this kind of stuff, keep it in your own neighborhood. Don’t bring it over here to our neighborhood.”

MPD asked anyone with information should come forward immediately.

UPDATE (Aug. 26, 1:43 p.m.): The Mobile Police Department’s interim chief has released a statement regarding the shooting of six people on Sunday.

Interim Police Chief William Jackson started his message, noting, “We’re lucky all of the victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries and no one was killed” in the incident that happened just after midnight on Sunday, Aug. 25.

However, Jackson emphasized that he is frustrated that multiple people were hurt in the incident due to a disagreement.

“I implore you to put the guns down and talk with one another before another person is hurt, or killed, in our city,” Jackson said.

According to the statement, the department is actively investigating the shooting.

Anyone with information on the incident can contact the MPD at 251-208-1700.

Read the full statement below:

ORIGINAL STORY:

MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — Mobile Police are investigating after six people were shot just after midnight Sunday morning. Police say they were called to an area near the intersection of Paper Mill Road and McKinley Street at 12:21 am for a shooting.

Police say three men, two women and a minor were all found shot at that location. All were taken to local hospitals and were treated for what are described as non-life-threatening injuries. Police didn’t have any details on what may have led to the shooting or who may be responsible.

Miskia Barnes is a resident of a neighborhood in the area. She was trying to put her grandchildren to bed, until she noticed her dog barking outside. Then gunshots went off.

“At that point, all I wanted to do was get my grandkids on the floor, get down and stuff like that. Just to tell them to get down,” said Barnes. “Then finally when they stopped, I waited a little bit. Then I walked to the door, and you can still see them scatter.”

Residents told News 5 that they could hear cars racing along Paper Mill Rd. Also, while looking outside, big groups of people were seen running from the scene when police arrived.

“Once you put that gun up and you pull that trigger, you can’t come back. You can’t turn that around. You can’t change the outcome of that, it’s over. Either that person seriously hurt or that person dead, and there’s no way you can come back,” Barnes said.

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