(Left to right) Detective Ben Bartone gets an evidence bag from Sgt. John Netto.
DERBY — Police are investigating a drive-by shooting that happened at about 11 a.m. Saturday (Oct. 5) on Anson Street.
No injuries were reported, but police were checking to see if any gunshot victims turned up at area hospitals.
Police were too busy investigating to comment immediately after the crime. Additional details were not released as of 5 a.m. Oct. 7.
An eyewitness told The Valley Indy that at about 11 a.m. two vehicles were seen heading down Anson Street from the Sixth Street area toward Fifth Street. The second vehicle was tailgating the first.
Anson Street at the intersection with Fifth Street in Derby.
As the first vehicle made a left onto Fifth Street toward Olivia Street, the driver of the second vehicle fired eight shots at the first vehicle, the eyewitness said.
Police on scene reviewed cell phone video from which ten loud, successive shots could be heard.
“I was four or five feet away, I could see the smoke coming from the gun and everything,” the person said.
The eyewitness did not want to give his or her name because of fear of retaliation.
Detective Ben Bartone picks up a shell casing on Anson Street.
The first vehicle sped off, while the car with the shooter may have continued down Anson Street toward Fourth Street. The witness said he or she could hear a second round of about five gunshots, but was inside calling police when it happened.
Those shots may have been fired at Fourth and Olivia streets near the Derby post office, as police put crime tape there and were searching for shell casings.
Police on scene included Detective Ben Bartone and Sgt. John Netto. Bartone photographed and collected shell casings from the intersection of Anson Street and Fifth while Netto could be seen talking to neighbors. Other officers were talking to neighbors and searching for places where the bullets might have hit parked cars or houses.
The Scouts were setting up for their annual “Ed Strang Day” on the nearby Derby Green, but scout leaders said they did not see or hear anything related to the shooting.
Neighbors in the area were angry, especially since the shooting happened in broad daylight on a Saturday in a neighborhood full of kids. The eyewitness said a mom with two kids was on a sidewalk when the shots rang out.
They said young people hang out on Anson Street late into the night drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana and blasting loud music. They said they called the police but the crowds returned shortly after police leave.
Police were also looking for evidence of a shooting at Fourth Street and Olivia.
