MUSCATINE, Iowa — A Muscatine man whose car became collateral damage during a drive-by shooting Saturday night said he believes the incident was drug related.
According to Alec Christensen, a young man shot at another man after he stole marijuana from the shooter, a drug deal gone bad that Christensen said took place elsewhere.
No one was injured in the shooting, but Christensen’s car, a 2013 Dodge Avenger, was hit by gunfire. His car suffered about $1,000 worth of damage and he said he doesn’t think his insurance will cover the cost.
The Muscatine Police Department was contacted by the Muscatine Journal Sunday, but was told no one was available to discuss the shooting.
Christensen said he was visiting friends who live on Baker Avenue when the shooting occurred at approximately 6:15 p.m. He described how his car was hit because it was parked in the alley off of Baker Avenue, the alley down which the shots were fired. He said the shooter was aiming for the car driven by the young man who supposedly robbed him.
“They were shooting to kill, for sure,” said Christensen. “When they hit the car that they were aiming for, they hit [the windshield] right all over the head area.”
Neighborhood resident Linda Brugman, who lives around the corner from where the shooting took place, said she heard three bangs and told her husband, “Well I think that’s shooting,” before she went to investigate. She said she didn’t see anything happen.
Brugman has lived in the neighborhood for 50 years and doesn’t recall another incident like this occurring in that time. Because of the neighborhood’s good history, she said she still felt confident in her safety.
Jennifer Britton, who lives down the street from where the shooting took place, is a bit more perturbed, however. Britton has lived with her family, including two sons ages 12 and 19, on Baker since January 2013.
“It could happen anywhere. I just worry now. We were out in the front yard a couple hours before that working,” she said. “So that makes me a little nervous, if we’d still been out in the front yard, you know …”
Still, Britton said she thinks that it’s unlikely that another incident like the shooting will happen again in her neighborhood.
“I think it’s one of those random things,” she said.
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