If someone were to ask you which street in Dallas County would be the least likely site of a drive-by shooting, Highland Park’s Beverly Drive would be near the top of the list. Strait Lane in Preston Hollow might be the only street that could nudge it from the No. 1 position.
Nonetheless, random gunfire was reported on Highland Park’s toniest thoroughfare last Friday night. At about 9:25 p.m., multiple residents near the intersection of Beverly and Hillcrest Avenue heard anywhere from four to nine shots. Officers responded to the area, but they didn’t hear any shooting, nor did they locate any suspects.
While searching the area, officers found out that a resident of the 3300 block of Beverly, who had been woken by a loud noise, discovered that a large storm window on the front of her house had been shattered. Officers located a bullet-size hole in the window and determined that the projectile passed through a interior window, a curtain, and two sides of a lamp shade before coming to rest in the binding of a Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. The book was booked as evidence.
Further investigation revealed another bullet hole in a second window at the same house. Officers were able to trace that bullet’s path through a curtain and across the keys of a Gulbransen piano before finding it lodged in the musical instrument. Given the piano’s size, the officers decided to leave it at the scene of the crime.
A neighbor told police he not only heard the gunshots, he saw “muzzle flashes from a gun” coming from an eastbound vehicle. But he was not able to see the make or model of the moving car. The resident of the bullet-riddled house, a woman in her 80s, told police she knows of no one who is upset with her at this time — at least, no one upset enough to use her home for target practice.
The next day, officers returned to the 3300 block of Beverly and noticed bullet holes on two other houses. They were able to make contact with only one home’s owner. He told police he was home and awake at the time of the shooting, but he assumed the noises were related to another earthquake.
By comparison, last week’s other residential crimes in the Park Cities were positively tame:
- Between 3 p.m. on Jan. 3 and 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, thieves stole $3,900 worth of Oakridge shingles from a construction site in the 4500 block of Abbott Avenue. The shingles had been sitting on four pallets, which were left empty.
- Between 4 p.m. on Dec. 26 and 11 a.m. on Jan. 5, a burglar rummaged through a black 2008 Mercedes E55 that was parked behind a gate in the 3200 block of Cornell Avenue. There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing was stolen.
- Between 10:45 and 11 a.m. on Jan. 7, a burglar broke into a Realtor’s black 2011 Audi in the 4000 block of St. Andrews Drive and stole a $500 Jack Spade briefcase, a $400 Mont Blanc pen, a $200 Supra key, and a $230 Tod’s wallet that held two debit cards, a credit card, and a driver’s license.
- After 10 p.m. on Jan. 7, thieves stole a $150 Trek bicycle and a $150 Schwinn bicycle from a backyard in the 3400 block of Granada Avenue.
