The Daily Times

Two homes on East Edison Street in Alcoa suffered damage by stray gunshots fired in the neighborhood early Saturday morning.

According to Alcoa police reports, Lester V. Robinson, of 268 E. Edison St., told Alcoa police officers he and his mother were asleep at 3 a.m., when he heard the gunshots come from an area of Morse Street.

An officer saw a hole from what appeared be a firearms round in the kitchen area. The round had entered the residence from the outside and struck the kitchen sink faucet. The officer was unable to locate where the round had stopped. Robinson’s mother’s bedroom joined the kitchen area where the round had traveled.

Robinson’s home suffered structure damage from the round. The faucet and kitchen tile were damaged from the round entering the residence. There was approximately $370 damage done to the kitchen tile and kitchen faucet.

“There’s been stuff like a fight in the neighborhood, but I don’t know anyone that goes around causing trouble around her,” Robinson told The Daily Times Sunday afternoon. “If (the bullet) not had come through the faucet, it could have hit my mother in her bedroom.”

Meanwhile, Gladys Smith, Robinson’s neighbor at 274 E. Edison St., said that around 3:30 a.m., she heard approximately five gunshots coming from the same area of Morse Street. She also observed a black SUV in the area of Morse Street shortly after hearing the gunshots. The residence suffered damage to the vinyl siding, bathroom tile and toilet seat.

Smith said when she went into her bathroom that morning, she noticed the bathtub tile had been damaged along with her toilet seat. Further investigation revealed what appeared to be a bullet hole entry into her residence.

The officer then went outside and inspected the vinyl siding, and discovered a small hole on the side of the residence facing Morse Street, which is the same side as her bathroom. The round entered and the residence and went through the bathtub tile and into the toilet lid. There was $730 damage.

“I didn’t know the bullets hit my house,” Smith said Sunday. “When I first heard the shots, they woke me up. I didn’t know what to expect — the shots were fired back-to-back.

“I peeped out my window and saw two boys. I could smell the powder or whatever it was from the guns,” Smith continued. “I stayed around, and I finally laid back down, but I heard noise all night long. The next morning, I walked into the bathroom and saw a lot of debris. I looked up at the ceiling and didn’t see anything that fell or anything that broke. I figured I would sweep it up, but there was a bullet hole in my shower curtain and in the back wall behind the shower curtain. The lid to the toilet was shattered in one side, and if I had been sitting there I would have gotten a bullet.”

There were no other reports of other homes in the area that were damaged or any injuries. Both Robinson and Smith said they were fortunate that neither they nor any of their neighbors were seriously injured.

“It makes you feel unsafe when you’re in your own house. It’s not a good feeling,” Robinson said.

“I heard (a gunshot) about month ago, but it was only one gunshot,” Smith said. “It was horrifying — it really was. I live by myself and something needs to be done about (the gunshots).

“I didn’t know about my neighbor until he showed me what happened in his kitchen,” Smith continued. “His 86-year-old mother lives with him and something could have happened to her. It’s an awful shame.”