Norman Police Investigate Reports Of Gunshots Striking Houses

Norman police are investigating reports of shots from firearms striking houses in a neighborhood.

According to police, residents of the Cambridge Addition, located northwest of W. Main Street and 48th Avenue NW, have notified police of two separate incidents of shots from firearms striking houses in the addition.

During the investigation, police learned that firearms were being discharged from an area along the South Canadian River in both instances.

In the first incident, officers said they were unable to locate any suspects. But in the second, officers did locate three suspects firing a pistol toward a populated area. These suspects have criminal charges pending with McClain County for reckless conduct with a firearm.

In an effort to eliminate or significantly reduce this problem, the Norman Police Department offers the following information:

• Contrary to popular opinion, the South Canadian River is not public property, it is private property. 
• Police can cite persons on the river for trespassing with permission or assistance from adjacent property owners. 
• Although discharging a firearm within the city limits is legal in areas zoned A-2, the ordinance requires that the discharge only occur when “the bullet or projectile does not pass or is likely to pass through or fall within a populated area or place of habitation.”

In other words, police said if anyone discharge firearms toward the north or east from the area identified on the attached map, they could be in violation of city ordinance and state law.

No one has been injured during these incidents.