| By Big Radio News Staff |
Janesville police say they seized three handguns in a set of arrests they say is tied to an apparent drive-by shooting that left a house struck by bullets Monday night.
The department says three juveniles, two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old, are under arrest for being party to reckless endangerment, which is a felony.
Janesville Police were dispatched to the 2200 block of Green Valley Drive on the city’s east side around 11:30 p.m. Monday night, after several citizens reported hearing gunfire.
Janesville Police Chief Chad Pearson says the shooting appeared to have been targeted; it came following what Pearson says was “a disturbance” in the neighborhood earlier Monday.
Police say they found shell casings littering the ground and a house struck by bullets. No one was injured in the shooting.
The arrest came after a warrant search at the 2000 block of N. Wright Road. That’s the residence where police say they seized three handguns. Police are still trying to learn whether any of those guns were used in the shooting.
Janesville police officials say police responded to the shooting by applying all available resources to the case, which Pearson says included allowing overtime for officers working on the case.
Police say nearby businesses and neighbors were “cooperative” and “helpful” in the investigation.
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The arrests come in a week in which police in Beloit and the town of Beloit have reported at least three shootings, a knife attack that led to an officer using deadly force, and a person pointing a loaded gun at a town of Beloit tavern employee’s face.
That violence comes amid a spate of at least nine shootings that have played out across Rock County since March 1 — two of which were fatal, and are being treated as homicides.
In the midst of an uptick in area violence, Pearson says Janesville remains a safe community.
WCLO Radio news has been unable to reach Beloit police officials for comment on its own shooting cases. But Rock County court documents this week show Beloit police apparently made an unannounced arrest of a 16-year-old Beloit male in an April 10 shooting that left a Beloit Memorial High School Student shot in the foot as he walked home from school.
Court documents show that a vehicle involved in that shooting had multiple youths as passengers. The juvenile suspected of pulling the trigger reportedly was wearing a ski mask.
Beloit police did not previously announce the April 10 shooting or the recent arrest tied to it. It would be at least the fourth shooting in the last month in Beloit that has involved juveniles, and in each of those cases, police have reported people struck by bullets.
Two of the shootings happened in the middle of the afternoon.
Stay tuned to 1230 AM WCLO Radio and wclo.com as we bring you more coverage of public safety in your communities.
