ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Bullet holes in cars and in houses dotting clay street in Annapolis.
“I heard ‘Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!’ and I hit the floor in my kitchen,” said Veronica Grant, president of the Obery Court and College Creek Residents’ Council, who heard dozens of shots ring out after police said two cars pulled up and began shooting.
“It sounded like automatic weapons, and it sounded like they unloaded, reloaded and unloaded again,” said Grant.
On the heels of a spike in shootings over the last 10 months, the Annapolis police are creating a new unit called the Special Enforcement Action Team or ‘SEAT’ in an attempt to cut down on the violence.
“What SEAT intends to do is engage the more violent criminals on our streets who have been arrested before, which seem to end up back out on the streets,” said Bernie Bennett of the Annapolis Police Department, “Get intelligence from those out on the street about other gang activities.”
The unit also will prioritize serving warrants for violent crimes and seizing illegal firearms.
Officers here have already been addressing some of those issues, but this is a concerted effort drawing help from state and federal agencies as well.
Grant says she would welcome the new plan, but she has her reservations.
“When the shooting happened, the police department was here already so I don’t know what kind of crime plan they have going on, because there was a police car parked on the wrong way up here and there was a police car right up there on Pleasant Street on the corner,” said Grant, “So how it is possible that someone could come through here shooting like that in a drive by?”
