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Shooting at Durham apartment complex causes gas leak, evacuations

Residents of Durham's McDougald Terrace were allowed back into their homes Tuesday night after a gas leak caused by a bullet forced people to evacuate.

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DURHAM, N.C. — Residents of Durham's McDougald Terrace were allowed back into their homes Tuesday night after a gas leak caused by a bullet forced people to evacuate.

Police said shots were fired in the apartment complex, and a bullet hit the gas line. Four buildings were evacuated, but there were no reports of anyone being shot. The gas line was turned off before residents were allowed back inside.

Police said three occupied apartments were struck and several unoccupied vehicles were damaged. It's unclear exactly how many shots were fired.

Damaged cars and bullet holes on buildings could be seen on Wednesday morning.

A spokesperson for the Durham Housing Authority said he is working on an alert system for residents to send informative text messages in case of a similar situation.

Ashley Canady has lived in McDougald Terrace for 11 years. She said she shootings in the community are common. But she said last night was one of the scariest yet.

'"It devastated me to have lived here so long and just to hear shots like that," Canady said. "It was enough to shake your soul up last night."

Canady, who is the president of the resident council, said it's most concerning that children live inside the apartments that were hit.

"When they're out there shooting, they don't realize a lot of these apartments are full of kids," she said. "And to see where those bullets landed, and to see that her kids could have been there, that really upsets me. It really breaks my heart to see something like that."

Canady said even after discouraging nights, she will still fight to make her community better.

"We're just going tp keep pushing harder and show them that you guys are not going to rain on our parade out here at McDougald. We're going to take our community back, regardless. When shootings like this happen, it just makes us come back 10 times stronger."

Residents of Durham's McDougald Terrace were allowed back into their homes Tuesday night after a gas leak caused by a bullet forced people to evacuate.

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