Residents of Random Island shaken by weekend shooting
Stray bullets hit at least two homes
Residents of a small island community in Newfoundland remain shaken by a shooting in the town of Robinson Bight on Saturday that saw stray bullets hit homes, with one resident questioning why police didn't share wider emergency warnings.
Police sent alerts on social media warning Random Island residents to shelter in place following an incident involving a vehicle and a firearm.
Residents of the town say a driver of a black BMW opened fire on another driver, hitting a white BMW with no less than five bullets. Witnesses described to CBC News making multiple frantic calls to 911 as one woman came out of her home believing she was being intentionally shot at.
On Tuesday, RCMP Cpl. Jolene Garland told CBC police responded to a single vehicle crash with a vehicle ending up in a ditch after being shot at. Police believe it was a targeted attack, she said.
Officers created a roadblock and searched the area, but evidence pointed to the shooter leaving the area before police got there, Garland added.
Police in Bay Roberts also responded to a black BMW on fire in the community of Makinsons later in the day.
Garland said investigators believe the vehicle is the same car the shooter drove in Robinson Bight.
Barbara Dean-Simmons, a resident of Robinson Bight, said the town has been on edge since the shooting in her community, which has fewer than two dozen homes.
"One neighbour had a bullet hole came through their living room window. Another house, I think I heard that a bullet came through a kitchen," Dean-Simmons told CBC News Tuesday.
She said she would have liked to see more from police than a social media post.
"That's what everybody's talking about. Like the what-ifs, the could-haves," she said. "It could have been people just going about their daily business and being in the wrong place at the wrong time that Saturday. We're very fortunate that nobody was seriously hurt."
Dean-Simmons said she wasn't made aware of the situation until around 3:30 p.m. after she saw a police presence on another street and got a call from a family member.
"I really think that we should have gotten an emergency alert on our phones. It was only neighbours calling neighbours that day that people started to realize what was going on," she said.
She said she hoped police would have learned from past incidents and issue an emergency alert. She specifically referenced the 2020 mass shooting in Portapique, N.S — where 22 people were killed and RCMP were widely criticized for not issuing a public warning via the province's emergency alert system.
The RCMP's Garland told CBC News that the incident didn't meet the criteria for an emergency alert to be issued.
"We had one incident we believe was targeted," she said. "The suspect departed the area immediately after that occurred, and there was no other evidence to suggest that would support an emergency alert being activated."
Police are continuing the investigation into the shooting.
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With files from Terry Roberts and Ariyana Gomes
