Shooting reported near site of recent homicide on South Van Buren Street

ALBANY — An elderly woman was victimized in an attempted armed robbery on Wednesday, while another shooting was reported near the site of a recent homicide, reports from the Albany Police Department show.

Officer Trafton Owens said in a police report narrative that he responded in normal patrol mode to the 500 block of South Van Buren Street in reference to discharging firearms shortly before 5 a.m. on Wednesday and met with the victim, who said he woke up at about 4:30 a.m. and heard shots shortly afterward.

“(The victim) stated once he was up he decided to cook himself some breakfast,” Owens wrote. “(He) stated once he entered into his kitchen he heard approximately four to five gunshots. (He) stated the gunshots sounded like they were in his front yard area or very close by his residence.

“(He) stated once the gunshots stopped he walked into his living room area and observed that at least one of the gunshots had went through his wall located in the living room. (He) stated at that time he called the police.”

Owens wrote that the victim said he looked outside to see if he could observe anyone outside of his residence or in the immediate area, but did not see anyone — nor did he hear a vehicle leave the area, leading him to believe that whoever shot at his residence was walking in the area.

The victim lives very near were Jontavious Price, 24, was shot in the chest and killed on March 20.

“(He) stated he was unsure as to if this shooting was related to that incident or not,” Owens said in the report. “(He) stated he has not gotten into a verbal or physical altercation with anyone lately. (He) stated he does not have any enemies and was unsure as to who would shoot at his residence.”

The victim refused to write a statement. Owens wrote that he found six bullet holes in the front of the residence, noting that one of the bullet holes still had a fragment located inside of the hole.

It was not immediately clear whether it was connected to Wednesday’s shooting or from the homicide.

“I spoke to (the victim) and he explained that some of the gunshot holes were from the homicide and he thinks that only one of the holes actually made contact with his residence tonight,” the officer said in the report. “I then entered into (the residence) and observed some of the wood paneling to have been shot and disturbed.”

During the armed robbery attempt, an 86-year-old woman told the APD at around noon on Wednesday that the suspects came to her door on the 400 block of Farkas Lane several times — beating and kicking on it, Phyllis Banks, spokeswoman for the APD, said.

The victim said a male wearing a gray hoodie pointed a silver gun at her and demanded money from her. She said she slammed her door and called the police, and the suspects ran away from her house, Banks said.

Banks said a witness to the incident said he saw the suspects run away from the house, and that he saw one suspect point a silver gun at a dog in the middle of the street. When apprehended, both suspects had handguns.

A juvenile and a 17-year-old were taken into custody in connection to that incident, Banks said.

Jada Haynes