From Chief P.K. Johnson
Millbrook Police Department
On Saturday, September 7, 2024, at approximately 8:52 PM, Millbrook police officers responded to a report of multiple shots fired in the area of Tanglewood Court, which is located off Thornfield Drive in Millbrook. Upon arrival, officers located spent shell casings in the area. While canvassing the area to ascertain if anyone had been injured, officers were advised that there had been multiple individuals present at a residence, near the cul-de-sac, prior to shots being fired. Officers were approached by an area resident, who stated that he was inside his residence when he heard multiple gunshots. Shortly thereafter the homeowner discovered that his residence had damage consistent with a projectile entering a window of the residence. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that a round entered the front of the victim’s residence, travelling through a bedroom and exited the rear of the residence. While canvassing the area, officers located an abandoned firearm behind a near-by residence. The weapon was impounded as possible physical evidence in this case. There were no apparent injuries resulting from this incident. Detectives with the department’s Criminal Investigations Unit responded and processed the scene.
On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, pursuant to an investigation, Millbrook detectives placed a seventeen-year-old juvenile under arrest, charging him with Discharging a Firearm into an Occupied Dwelling. The juvenile was processed and transported to the Elmore County Jail.
Because of the alleged offender’s age, I am limited in the information that I’m able to release at this time. That said, I will say that we intend on pursuing the prosecution of the alleged offender as an adult. In speaking with our detectives, apparently there was a group of young people congregating at a residence, where a verbal altercation ensued. This then apparently escalated to threats being exchanged and firearms came into play, with multiple shots being fired.
This incident occurred in a densely populated residential area. We are extremely fortunate that no one was injured or killed as a result of this senseless violence. Other than the fact that this incident occurred, I am extremely disturbed by the fact that no one on the scene that was contacted by law enforcement saw or heard anything, yet they were present when the incident occurred.
Despite the lack of cooperation from people that may have been present at the time the alleged altercation occurred, when the shots were fired, our responding officers did a great job of locating and securing potential evidence and our Criminal Investigations Unit was able to follow up with their investigation, which resulted in this arrest. This incident could have ended in tragedy had that projectile that entered the victim’s residence found a target. It could have hit someone’s child, a mother, father or other loved one.
As a result of these events, I have instructed our Patrol Division and our Street Crimes Unit to conduct close patrols and directed that enforcement details be conducted in this area, as well as other areas frequented by persons engaged in behaviors identified during this investigation. In short, we will have an increased presence in this area. Our actions will be intentional, with our officers strictly enforcing any traffic or criminal violations observed. The take away or message, if you will, is very simple. We will not tolerate the occurrence of senseless violent acts in our City, particularly violence involving the use of firearms. We will utilize all resources available to us to discourage this type of violent behavior from occurring in our City.
