Lansdale Borough Police Chief Michael Trail has released additional details and a timeline of Friday’s events, following a Monday morning interview with North Penn Now.
Police were initially dispatched to the unit block of East Third Street in Lansdale at 5:53 a.m. on July 22 for a report of shots fired at a house. No injuries were reported, and witnesses described seeing a black vehicle leaving the area of the shooting.
Trail said the preliminary investigation determined that a firearm was discharged in that area, however there was no evidence the shot that was fired was targeted towards a person or residence.
Police from Upper Gwynedd Township observed the suspect vehicle on Wissahickon Avenue and later located the vehicle along the 200 block of Elm Avenue in North Wales Borough. Trail said Lansdale Police secured search warrants for the suspect’s vehicle and the residence the suspect entered, then notified North Wales Borough Police of the warrants.
At that time, North Wales Police requested assistance to serve the warrant from the Montgomery County SWAT – Central Region Team, as the initial incident in Lansdale involved a firearm being discharged and one resident of the home allegedly had a history of arrests involving firearms, Trail said.
Police identified three persons of interest who were inside of the home — two adult males and a juvenile — however none of the three would initially answer the door. Around 11 a.m., one of the adult males exited the home and was subsequently detained on an unrelated summary warrant. The suspect was later released after processing, police said.
A short time later, the juvenile suspect exited the home, and afterwards, the remaining adult suspect exited as well, Trail said. With all three out of the home, investigators then entered the home and executed the search warrant.
The vehicle was towed from the scene so police could execute the second search warrant.
Trail said police did not have an arrest warrant for any of the three suspects and added they could not make an arrest outside of their jurisdiction without one. All three remain as persons of interest, and the investigation into the shots fired incident is ongoing.
The scene was cleared around 2 p.m., Trail said.
In a phone interview with North Penn Now on Friday, Trail stated there was no threat to the public, and the shots fired incident was unrelated to the June and July shootings that occurred in Lansdale. Trail said at the time that the incident was targeted and not random, clarifying on Monday that the discharge of the firearm was isolated to an incident under investigation, and not randomly fired towards a person or place.
“This incident was not a random act, but a targeted event fueled by the easy access of guns by criminals,” Trail said on Friday, via Twitter.
See also:
Photos: Shooting Incident in Lansdale Borough Leads to Swat Standoff in North Wales
Police Release Surveillance Image of Suspect Vehicle Involved in Thursday Night Shooting in Lansdale
Victim of Thursday Night Shooting in Lansdale was Previously Shot in June on West Fifth Street
Multiple People Wounded in Thursday Night Shooting in Lansdale, Suspect Not in Custody [UPDATED]
Police Say Victim of Lansdale Shooting was Targeted, Investigation is Ongoing
