SOUTH PORTLAND — South Portland police are looking for the person who fired a gun Monday night near Pearl and Elm streets in the Pleasantdale neighborhood, damaging a car and buildings.

Neighbors reported the gunshots to police around 9:30 p.m. Officers who arrived to investigate found that a home, storage shed and vehicle were damaged by the shots, police said.

No one was injured.

Police believe the person who fired the shots left in a vehicle seen speeding toward Broadway.

At the scene Tuesday morning, a red BMW parked in the driveway of a home had one bullet hole in the trunk and what appeared to be a ricochet mark near where the trunk meets the rear windshield.

Neighbors estimated five to seven shots were fired.

Advertisement

Marjorie Swett, who lives across the street, said she heard the shots in quick succession and immediately knew they were not fireworks or a car backfiring.

“You knew it was a gun,” said Swett, 78. “It’s pretty scary that somebody would drive-by shoot you. If someone had been standing there, they’d be dead.”

Peter Werwath, who lives nearby, said he also heard the gunfire from an upstairs bedroom.

“At first I was kind of in denial about them, but then I saw the car speeding away and I thought they must have been gunshots,” Werwath said.

Werwath said he watched as police combed the area, shining their flashlights on homes to check for damage.

Werwath said they focused on a tiny hole in the siding of a home between two second-floor windows that he said was not present before the shooting.

The officers also focused their attention on a brown shed that belonged to another neighbor, Werwath said.

South Portland police did not return a message for further comment on the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Scott Corbett at 799-5511, ext. 7449.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: