Violence Erupts Across Killeen Early Wednesday Morning

Three suspected drive-by shootings, two individual shootings (including a woman being shot in the face), a burglary, and a robbery stretched Killeen police resources so thin early Wednesday morning that the department had to call for aid from Harker Heights police.

According to Killeen Police Spokeswoman Carrol Smith, police responded to an emergency call from the 1300 block of Greenwood Avenue at 12:45 AM. A witness said they were inside their house when they heard gunfire. Officers found bullet holes near the front of the home. They searched the area, but were unable to locate a suspect. No injuries were reported.

Shortly before 1 AM, police were advised that a woman was shot in the face in the area of 38th St. and Lake Road. The woman was conscious and alert when officers arrived, and she was transported to Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Temple in stable condition. Witnesses reported seeing a blue pickup in the area when shots were heard. Police were again unable to locate a suspect.

According to KWTX-TV, the victim told police she was walking toward Clinkenbeard Drive when she was shot. Her car was found parked at the Western Oaks complex, 1310 Bundrant Dr. Police discovered bullet holes in several other vehicles in the parking lot.

While police were investigating that shooting, they received word of a man who reported to the emergency room at Seton Medical Center after being shot in the hand outside a fourplex on Roy Reynolds Drive. The man said he was approaching the housing complex when he and several other people gathered outside heard gunshots. When the man realized he'd been shot, he asked a friend to drive him to the hospital. He was treated at Seton for a non-life threatening injury.

Officers were called to the 5300 block of Willamette Lane at 3:03 AM in reference to shots fired. One resident showed them bullet holes in his house, while another found bullet holes in a car parked in his driveway. Again, no suspect was located and no injuries were reported.

At 3:57 AM, officers responded to a report of another drive-by shooting in the 6200 block of Emilie Lane. Witnesses said a dark sedan was in the area when shots were fired, but police were unable to located it. Property was damaged in that shooting, but no injuries were reported.

These drive-by shootings came after a pair of shootings mere blocks apart late Sunday night and early Monday morning. Police have not commented on whether or not they are related. In a press release issued Wednesday afternoon, detectives said they are currently investigating each shooting as a separate incident.

As police were responding to these calls, they received reports of a burglary at a grocery store and a robbery in an apartment complex parking lot.

The burglary took place at the Gateway Food Store, 4201 E Rancier Ave. Police were alerted by an alarm, and as they approached the store they saw a man flee the scene and run across a field. Police lost the suspect as he ran into an apartment complex parking lot.

A hammer was reportedly used to shatter a glass door, and cigarettes and tobacco products were stolen. The suspect or suspects then returned and tried to steal and ATM inside the store.

The robbery in an apartment complex parking lot took place on Bacon Ranch Road around the same time as the Gateway burglary. Police had not yet released further information late Wednesday morning.