Shots-fired and heard calls up in Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia police have been sent to 14 shots-heard or shots-fired calls over the last week, including several calls Thursday night and early Friday.

The number is a large increase from the week before, when the Columbia Police Department responded to just five shots-heard of fired calls.

Dispatching records show CPD officers have been sent to 31 shots-fired or heard reports this month, which means nearly half of those calls have been made in the past week.

CPD has not responded to messages seeking comment on the upswing in the calls.

CPD officers were sent late Thursday to a shots-heard call and found shell casings near the site of what police described as a "fireworks war" in the Grace Lane area in east Columbia. The response led to emergency dispatchers sending out a public warning that Grace Lane had been closed.

Amy Palmer, who lives in the area, said the commotion kept her and her kids up all night. She said fireworks were going off until 5:30 a.m.

Palmer, who has lived in east Columbia for six years, said she's dealt with issues like this in the past, but last night was by far the worst.

She said other crime has gone up recently as well -- her neighbor's car was just broken into.

Officers were also sent to an area of Scott Boulevard near Chapel Hill Road in south Columbia early Friday on a shots-fired called. They found about 30 spent shell casings and property damage but no injuries.

Police were also sent to north Columbia for a report of a shooting on Bodie Drive. A 19-year-old woman suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the evidence of shootings in the Grace Lane area, on Scott Boulevard or on Bodie Drive.