Seven dispatchers at a time handle emergency calls for Fayetteville.They often hear from people dialing 911 to report gunfire. Over thecourse of a year, there were more than 100 reported shootings withvictims.
There were over 1200 reports of shots fired, many into the air and someinto homes. Darren Hanna was sleeping last week, when a bullet smashedthrough his window, flew over his bed, and went through a wall. He thinksit was a stray bullet, perhaps fired from a nearby street.
The whole thing makes Hanna more angry than anything. He says there'snothing to be scared about, since he believe's last week's shooting wasprobably an isolated incident.
Maurice Drake works at a Skibo Road gas station, where one of the pumpstook a bullet last month. Drake says the area has become a weekendhangout for hundreds of people after the bars close.
"Being a night manager, I'm accustomed to knowing there's a possibilitysomething might happen," Drake says. "But, to know that it's a constantthreat on a particular evening because of a particular event, it's got tobe a matter of concern."
Precolar McNeill lost a son to murder three weeks ago. Kit Reeves diedafter being shot several times. Family members found him in his Jeep. His mother has managed to hold herself together, except for the time shebolted out of the house.
Given all the shooting calls, police say the city is extremely lucky itsmurder rate has not gone through the roof. For the first six months ofthis year, there were only three murders in the city.
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