CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A veteran and his family from North Carolina that fled to a relative’s home in Chesterfield County to escape Tropical Storm Florence, ended up down the street from chaos not caused by a storm, but from firepower.
Tyler Clark, a Navy veteran, followed mandatory evacuation orders while his neighbors opted to stay in Jacksonville.
“A lot of people in North Carolina, they are not afraid of hurricanes," Clark said. "No matter what category hurricane, they stay down there."
Tyler Clark
While Clark, his wife and young daughter packed up their pets and belongings and headed to their aunt and uncle’s house in Chesterfield County, it was not the sound of wind and rain that was alarming on Friday, but gunfire up the street.
"We heard a kind of a sporty, loud muffler car kind of pull up. And you had five shots and then you heard it speed away," one neighbor said.
House Shot Up
A Triple Crown home on Kentucky Derby Drive was occupied by a woman and her children had bullets break through the upstairs window.
Crime Insider sources said it scared her to the point where they left to stay with other family members.
A man who has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years called what happened “unbelievable."
Three doors from the Clarks’ temporary hurricane shelter, he was surprised by the bullets.
Gunfire
“I lived in north Chicago and that was pretty commonplace up there,” Clark explained.
However, he said he was grateful he dodged the firepower and it appears Florence’s wrath.
"Petty minor damage right now,” Clark said. “The biggest concern is whether the flooding… Because we live in a no flood zone. A hurricane brings floods whether you live in a flood zone or not.”
Clark is from Onslow County in North Carolina where a curfew is still in place. If the rain moves on, Clark is hoping to head south on Monday.
If you have information that could help detectives, call Chesterfield County Police at 804-748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660.
