SAN ANTONIO – Long before their alarm clocks are set to go off, people in one Northeast side neighborhood say they are waking up repeatedly to the jarring sound of gunfire.
They all live along Escort Drive, a street located near Judson Road and Lookout Road.
The neighbors say it seems several times each week, someone is using a section of Lookout Road behind their homes for target practice.
“It’s just happening more and more consistently over time,” said one man who asked not to show his face or use his name.
On one occasion, early on the morning of New Year’s Day, bullets tore into one home, hitting a sofa where a family had just been sitting.
In a doorbell camera from one home, rapid gunfire could be heard in the background.
Other videos shared by neighbors show close to a dozen shell casings on the ground.
“That is very, very scary. We do have a three-year-old,” the unidentified neighbor said. “They’re shooting. It’s a firearm. There are houses here. There are kids.”
He and others who live there say they have repeatedly reported the gunfire to San Antonio police.
However, by the time officers arrive, the shooters are usually gone.
Data from SAPD does show several reports for shots fired dating back at least to March of last year.
So far, no one has been arrested.
“Sometimes we’ll get woken up in the middle of the night ‘cause we hear the gunshots,” said a woman, who also wanted to hide her face.
“I would say that it’s probably just kids, you know, going back there and shooting up and they don’t really think about the consequences of what could happen,” she said.
The neighbors say it appears the shooters are using an area of Lookout Road that is dark and relatively deserted at night.
It is right near a church and air conditioning service, though, which both have surveillance cameras.
People at both establishments told KSAT 12 News that their cameras did capture images of people shooting guns.
But it is unclear whether those videos will provide police with enough information to track down the shooters.
Employees at the church and business declined to be interviewed by KSAT 12 or to share copies of their videos.
“I think it would be really good if the police were out there, kind of, keeping a watch,” said the female neighbor.
She said having officers use their eyes and ears may be the only way to keep the danger they face in the neighborhood from turning deadly.