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A resident across the street captured the exchange of gunfire that occurred on April 25 near the 1200 block of Windermere Ave. Via City of Menlo Park website.
Multiple gunshots were exchanged between two groups near the Belle Haven neighborhood on Monday evening, according to the Menlo Park Police Department, and the attack was captured by a neighbor’s surveillance camera.
The incident occurred near the 1200 block of Windermere Avenue. In a timestamped video from a neighborhood resident, around 8:20 p.m., April 25, a sports utility vehicle can be seen creeping up the road before stopping in front of a home across the street.
About 30 shots can be heard firing, with the muzzle flash from the weapon fired from the vehicle clearly visible in the video.
About 12 shots of return fire can be heard as the vehicle drives off. A woman is heard in the background saying, “Get inside.”
Officers were on a routine patrol in the area and immediately responded after hearing sounds of “apparent automatic gunfire,” police said.
No one was injured during the incident, according to the press release. Officers searched the area but did not find any gunshot victims.
Police said they believe that this was a targeted incident and not a random act of violence.
Because it’s an ongoing investigation, no additional information can be released at this time, said Nicole Acker, public information officer for the Menlo Park police department.
The resident who captured the video footage emailed it to the city, along with a letter urging City Council members to hold a special meeting on public safety. He described it as “another shooting” that occurred near his home. When contacted by The Almanac, he said he was not immediately able to comment.
His email was removed from the city’s website shortly after The Almanac reached out to the police department and the resident about it on Tuesday.
The incident led to the arrest of two people on Monday, but they were not directly related to the shooting, according to police Chief Dave Norris, speaking at the Menlo Park City Council meeting Tuesday.
Norris added that the police and the city attorney, in the past week, have made progress in their investigations regarding the area where the shooting occurred.
“While the overall shooting investigation is ongoing, two of the subjects we contacted at the scene last night were arrested for warrants,” Norris said in an email. “This does appear to be a targeted act focused on one residence in particular.”
A 25-year-old woman from Menlo Park and a 31-year-old man from Redwood City were detained at the scene and arrested for outstanding warrants, police said. Officers also said they recovered an unattended ghost gun from the scene, referring to untraceable guns made from a kit that are becoming increasingly common at crime scenes.
Police are asking anyone with information on the incident to call 650-330-6300.
Editor’s note: It is The Almanac’s policy to withhold the names of those arrested for most crimes until the District Attorney’s Office has determined that there is sufficient evidence to file charges in the case.
About once a week someone mounts a rifle or wields a handgun and fires it in the area. There’s bullet damage in several local businesses in the area. There’s a major problem with vehicular stalking here as well and that seems to precede many gun crimes. Overall if living in the area it’s wise to be cognizant of the environment and avoid suspicious vehicles parked or driving on the street. I have personally encountered several armed people in public in Menlo Park/Palo Alto during the past 24 months in addition to being assaulted and threatened on multiple occasions. The community draws too much focus and attention to homeless people when it comes to crime, neglecting more serious violent and gun crimes.
Another problem in the area is community response to crime. There are 100s people that live in the area that proactively seek opportunities to intervene in emergency situations that they learn about through a variety of mediums. This includes anything from jilted contractors that arm themselves and roam the neighborhood seeking tool thieves or vandals, or armed residents patrolling their neighborhood after vehicle and home break-ins. When the residents are not armed with weapons, they are armed with a bad attitude and exercise bias when attempting to intervene in emergency situations that most of the time they have no stake in.
Overall, area crime is contributing to hysterical community behavior, which itself is often criminal. Area snipers murder people on roadways around here and they seem to misidentify their targets by appearance. Top many opportunities for innocent people to become targets of violence here.
Only one thing will reduce the incidence of gun violence in this country: Repeal or radical reinterpretation of the Second Amendment. It is too bad that this is politically impossible at this time. If you don’t believe this, look up any plot of gun violence versus guns per capita by country. The U.S. is a great big outlier: Far more guns than any other country, and far greater gun violence.
Robert:
you need to back out suicides that account for about 60% of “gun violence” to get an accurate idea of just how much gun violence occurs.
Robert,
The problem is that politicians don’t want to enforce the myriad of laws already on the books because that does not get them any attention. They would rather pass new laws that have absolutely zero impact on gun violence but get them some attention.
Take this shooting, that gun is certainly illegal, the people shooting are more likely than not convicted felons who are not legally allowed to own or operate a firearm, the gun is most certainly not registered to them and I am sure there are violations of several other existing laws. Not to mention the fact that they fired the weapon in the city, into an occupied residence, attempted murder, etc. They violated enough laws that they could, and should, be locked up for the rest of their lives, or a very good portion of it. They won’t be because is they are caught it will be pleaded down to a single felony or misdemeanor. However this is the kind of event that will bring out politicians trying to look tough on gun crimes and proposing new laws that will have zero impact on these criminals. Maybe the real answer is to enforce the laws we have and get these criminals off the streets?
What Enough said. I spent ten years in law enforcement and watched as DA’s plead down or plead away gun charges, gun enhancement charges and numerous felony charges in order to push a case off their desk. The people getting the plea deal didn’t go to prison for anywhere near the time they should have. And when they came out they went right back to their criminal life.
There are plenty of laws on the books controlling guns, especially in California. If they actually were enforced, there would be a very large reduction in gun crime. But, as Enough has said, it won’t happen. DA’s will continue to plead down the charges and politicians will continue to grandstand proposing new laws that will have no effect on anyone but those that are law abiding. By definition criminals don’t abide by the laws. More laws isn’t the answer.
Thank you Menlo Park Police.