Usually, when shots have been fired, somebody has heard them. In this case, residents found a lot of spent bullet casings on their street and assumed the worst. But, when East Precinct officers responded to the calls received on a Sunday evening in early August, all they found was the discarded casings. Nobody reported hearing any shots. Was it a case of a shooting – or a passer-by disposing of trash in the street?
Officers cordoned off an area near a triplex on the north side of S.E. Duke Street, about a half-block east of 72nd Avenue, in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood. Four officers concentrated on those casings in the street, as they documented the evidence and spoke with people in the area.
Near the north edge of the street, clusters of bright yellow evidence markers marked where a lot of cartridge casings had been found. Neighbors stepped outside to watch the investigation, voicing concern over presumed gunfire on their normally-quiet block…