Gunshots commonplace in Southeast Side area where 3 people were wounded, neighbors say

  

SAN ANTONIO – A neighborhood where three people were wounded in a shooting early Thursday is the site of regular gunfire, according to people who live there.

San Antonio police were called to the 1600 block of Steves Avenue after 2:30 a.m. Officers said they found three people, a 17-year-old and two men in their 30s, suffering from gunshot wounds.

RELATED: 3 people wounded after gunshots are fired into backyard of Southeast Side home, police say

Police said neighbors reported hearing gunshots prior to that at a nearby intersection, Piedmont and Vanderbilt streets.

At some point, they believe the shooters made their way into an alley and shot the three victims in the backyard of a house on Steves Avenue.

Kimberly Wilson, who lives in the area, said she slept through that incident but heard gunshots the previous night.

“In the alley or the neighbor’s backyard,” she said. “My husband called the police because there were a lot of gunshots.”

Wilson and other neighbors said the sound is becoming commonplace.

One man who spoke off-camera said he hears gunshots several times per week, fired from various types of weapons.

Wilson tried to rationalize it as kids “just playing with guns,” although she said she is worried about bullets hitting bystanders.

“I’m nervous about that. I wouldn’t be outside if I heard that,” Wilson said.

Police detained as many as four people, but it was not clear right away whether they would face charges. Officers at the scene referred to them as “persons of interest.”

In the meantime, Wilson said she is afraid to spend time in her backyard garden, which faces the alley where the shootings happened. She said she is staying close to home.