Poplar Bluff police seeking information into three shootings over two days

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Poplar Bluff Police Department is investigating the third shooting in two days after a woman reported her car was shot multiple times Monday night.

Officers believe Monday's night shooting, as well as two that occurred Sunday afternoon, are "going to be intertwined with the same groups of people, but putting that together is the tough thing," said Lt. Josh Stewart.

Police continue to investigate, but did not confirm Tuesday whether they are looking for a single shooter or multiple shooters.

The Monday incident occurred at about 10 p.m., near the Poplar Bluff Early Childhood Center. A 27-year-old Poplar Bluff woman called authorities and initially reported her vehicle had been shot while she was driving on Mary Street, according to patrolman Josh Moore's report.

"(She) showed me her Chevrolet Malibu, pointing out five bullets holes that had resulted from the shots while she was driving a few minutes earlier," patrolman David Perkins wrote in his report. The woman was uninjured.

"(The woman) stated that she had gone out in her car to buy drinks at JD's store, but had realized that they were closed, so she had turned off Main Street at the one-way street (Mary Street) by Mark Twain School (Poplar Bluff Early Childhood Center)," Perkins said.

The woman, he said, further reported she saw a car that seemed to be following her.

"As she turned on Mill Street to go to Huck's store on Westwood, shots came from the following vehicle, striking her Malibu," Perkins said.

The shots, Stewart said, struck the back end of the woman's car.

The woman, Perkins said, fled to her home, where she called 911.

The suspect vehicle was described as a gray passenger car, possibly a Toyota, with tinted windows, Moore said.

No suspects, Stewart said, have been identified at this time nor have officers found any evidence of the shooting near the intersection of Mary and Mill streets.

Stewart said officers were "taking second looks in the daytime" hours Monday, "looking for any residences that might have been struck, any vehicles that might have been struck (or) shell casings."

Monday's night's incident comes after a first shooting Sunday, which occurred at about 2:20 p.m. at the Bacon Park basketball court off of Harper Street. It left a 23-year-old male with a single gunshot wound, according to earlier reports.

The victim, Stewart said, is believed to still be in a St. Louis hospital, where he was flown with what Poplar Bluff police chief Danny Whiteley earlier described as critical injuries.

As officers were on the scene at Bacon Park, a second drive-by shooting was reported at 3:05 p.m. in the 1500 block of Wallace Street, Whiteley said.

The victims were described as males, ages 56 and 48, and a 26-year-old female, and all sought treatment at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.

Police detective Dan Mustain earlier said one of the men was outside when the shots were fired, while the other two victims were inside a home.

One or more of the Wallace Street victims, Mustain said, may have suffered more than one gunshot wound.

On Sunday, authorities disseminated a photograph of the alleged Bacon Park shooter in an effort to identify him, but no positive identification has been made at this time.

Whiteley described the alleged shooter as being a black male, 6 feet to 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He was dressed in dark clothing with a hoodie.

The alleged shooter(s) from the Wallace Street incident also have not been identified at this time.

A cash reward, Whiteley said, is being offered for the identification of those responsible for the Sunday shootings.

Anyone with information about the shootings or identity of the shooter(s) may contact Mustain at dmustain@pbpolice.org or (573) 686-8632.