Residents of a neighborhood on Valley Ridge Road are still in shock following a shooting at a short-term rental.
Kristin Lowman, public information officer for the Dallas Police Department, told The Dallas Express that law enforcement officers responded to calls of a shooting on June 4 at 1:10 a.m. at a short-term rental in the 3900 block of Valley Ridge Road.
The incident took place in District 13, which is represented by Council Member Gay Donnell Willis.
Neighbors in Midway Hollow in North Dallas say they were dodging bullets inside their homes after a party with more than 100+ teens, at what they believe to be a short term rental, turned rowdy. @NBCDFW https://t.co/TWi04fymGh pic.twitter.com/CafA2oXQD4
— Sophia Beausoleil (@SophiaNBC5) June 6, 2023
“The preliminary investigation determined an unknown suspect shot into the house and left the location,” said Lowman in an email. “No injuries were reported.”
A party with more than 100 teens in attendance that started sometime after 7 p.m. was allegedly going on at the time of the shooting, according to NBC DFW. Despite the shooting appearing to target this short-term rental, bullets hit other homes nearby as well.
The residence where the party was allegedly being held sustained three bullet holes near the door, while more bullet holes were discovered in other homes, cars, and garages.
Sonya Hebert, a resident of the neighborhood who lives two houses down from where the party was allegedly being held, told FOX 4 that she and her neighbors had called the police a number of times about the party. Herbert said her daughters were having a sleepover at the time of the shooting and alleged that party attendees were smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol.
“The first round came from a white vehicle then sped away, and the return fire come [sic] from people,” said Hebert, according to FOX 4 News.
“If they wanted to have a party at a hotel, they would have been kicked out within minutes, but you can go to an Airbnb and have a raging party,” she claimed.
Herbert said her daughters were frightened by the event.
“Your daughter is not supposed to wake up traumatized, screaming and crying saying, ‘Don’t leave me I am so scared.’ Because a bunch of kids are shooting guns at each other,” said Hebert, according to FOX 4 News.
This is not the only instance of a recent drive-by shooting occurring in the City of Dallas. A woman was wounded when an unknown assailant opened fire on her home in late January, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The Dallas City Council is debating short-term rental regulations and is expected to make a decision at this week’s meeting, as reported by The Dallas Express.
According to the Dallas crime analytics overview dashboard, updated as of June 8, 2023 (although the website still says, “the City is experiencing a service outage and is working to restore services”), there have been 2,969 aggravated assaults thus far this year in Dallas.
The City of Dallas is currently suffering from a significant shortage of officers. Police Chief Eddie Garcia recently sat down with The Dallas Express to address this issue and said, “We need hundreds of more officers in the city of Dallas. There’s no question about it.”
Downtown Dallas, in particular, struggles with crime. Last fall, a dedicated police unit was created for Deep Ellum. Dedicated police units are common in downtown urban areas. The Houston Police Department maintains such a special unit called the Downtown Division, and Fort Worth uses a dedicated unit alongside private security guards.
