Police dept. needs help to solve case of drive-by shootings

The Park Hills Police Department is looking for information regarding two drive-by shootings in the 300 block of St. Joe Drive that have occurred in the last month. Anyone with information can call 573-431-3131.

SARAH HAAS, shaas@dailyjournalonline.com

The Park Hills Police Department is looking for residents’ assistance and information.

According to Police Chief Richard McFarland, a residential house in the 300 block of St. Joe Drive has twice been the target of drive-by shootings since the Fourth of July.

The chief indicated the home is occupied by a group of minority residents who work locally.

“We are investigating a drive-by shooting that occurred on the 300 block of St. Joe Drive,” read a post on the police department’s Facebook page. “The shooting occurred around 12:30 a.m. on July 29th. This is the second time this has happened with the first time occurring on the 4th of July.  The first incident was not reported to police.”

McFarland said they suspect the first shooting involved a drive-by truck and a bullet lodged high up on an exterior wall, and the second involved a sedan shooting through a window of the house.

The department is asking anyone with information about either incident to contact Park Hills police as soon as possible. A bullet has been collected from the scene to be identified.

Calls that offer information can be placed anonymously to 573-431-3131.

“It’s just a simple dispatch call, all you have to say is, ‘I have info about the shooting on St. Joe Drive,’ and they’ll notify us,” McFarland said. “We don’t want to betray an anonymous source, we often rely on anonymous sources and we need them to trust our discretion.

“We value their contributions to help us with cases, and we take their anonymity seriously. We don’t need big-city crime down here in this area and we take our community safety very seriously.”