PORTLAND — Portland police said Friday night they are still investigating gunshots fired early in the morning on Madison Street, one of which nearly hit a sleeping child and her father.

Shots were reported in the city’s East Bayside neighborhood at 4:30 a.m. Friday. Police said callers reported hearing three shots, although they found only one bullet after investigating the incident.

Police said they have no reason to suspect the house at 23 Madison St. was targeted.

Police said they found a hole in the siding where a single bullet, probably from a handgun, pierced the wall on the side of the house near the second floor and narrowly missed a 9-year-old and her father, who are visiting the area and were sleeping in a bedroom.

Police scoured the ground outside the Root Cellar, a nonprofit that provides social services, looking for clues.

Alex Endy, who has lived next door for eight years and has three children, said he heard the shots and called police.

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“We heard one shot then two more,” Endy said. “We heard it, but we don’t know anything.”

He said the area usually is a good, child-friendly neighborhood.

“Aside from stuff like this, it’s a great neighborhood,” he said, as he was loading one of his children into a minivan.

Officers canvassed the neighborhood Friday morning for witnesses and videotape that might show pedestrians or vehicles in the area at that time, police said.

David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@mainetoday.com


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