RIVERSIDE — Police released startling video that shows dangerous gunfire from an assault-style rifle last week outside EJ’s Lounge.
>> RELATED: Car from Dayton gunfire exchange, pursuit possibly connected to Riverside shots fired
The video shows a Dodge Charger pulling away from the parking lot at 4830 Airway Road while a passenger opens fire toward the business.
News Center 7’s Mike Campbell spoke with investigators who are working to untangle motives for the shots fired and to track down the people involved.
One look at the surveillance video explains why so many 911 calls in to dispatchers from the bar around 12:30 a.m. Jan. 17.
A car with at least two people inside pulled out of the driveway and out toward the left turn lane. Then everybody still in the parking lot was in the line of fire.
“We just had a bunch of shots fired,” one 911 caller said.
“Anyone injured?” a dispatcher asked.
“I’m not sure,” the caller said.
>> RELATED: Car from Dayton pursuit, car-to-car gunfire exchange may be involved in Riverside shots fired case
Dispatchers struggled to keep up with the flood of calls reporting this middle-of-the-street gunfire.
“I’m coming up Airway and I’m shaking all over … I looked behind me and I could see, like, gunshots. … It was like right behind me and I saw a bunch of orange flashes. It sounded like someone was beating on my car.”
Police said they pulled into EJ’s Lounge, where three cars were hit by bullets. One vehicle had blood inside but investigators did not find anyone hurt.
“Still no victims have come forward. We’ve got some persons of interest that we’re looking at, not many people cooperative in this type of incident,” Riverside police Maj. Adam Colon said.
Officers are waiting for forensic reports to return and are comparing notes with Dayton police.
That’s because two hours later, Dayton police received reports of two vehicles exchanging gunfire, just before a black Ford Taurus crashed through a fence at the Second Street Market.
Riverside police had that vehicle towed and compared it to the vehicle peppered by bullets in EJ’s parking lot.
“A lot of people we’ve interviewed or looked for or checked up, a lot of work for detectives,” Colon said.
What police know now is that they are looking for anyone who ran from EJ’s parking lot after the gunfire, plus people in at least three vehicles.
That includes the two cars they towed for evidence-gathering, plus the Dodge Charger captured in the surveillance video.
The person in the car, police believe, was using an assault-style rifle that could have caused have, but fortunately did not, cause massive injuries to those in the parking lot.
Anyone with information is urged to call Miami Valley Crime Stoppers at 937-222-STOP (7867).
