Possible gang-related crime in Lafayette

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Roxane Reynolds lives at Briarwood Apartments in Lafayette and said she isn't surprised to hear about the shots fired at the apartment complex.

"After awhile, I guess you just live with it," Reynolds said.

Deputies say the shots happened around 10:30 Tuesday night on Windemere Drive and say most people involved with the incident got away while one was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries. Witnesses told police five to 10 shots were fired between two groups of men.

Sgt. Andy Cree from Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department said this shooting is still under investigation and it has yet to be determined if it was a gang-related crime, but  said increased gang activity in the area may be result of people moving into the county.

"Unfortunately, people have come to this area from areas that have high crime rate, high gang populations, high violent crime rates and when they come to Tippecanoe County they aren't necessarily looking to go to work and start a family, they are just transplanting their location but continuing business as usual," Cree said.

Cree said crime rates reflect this and Tippecanoe County has at least 40 identified and established gangs. Cree also adds Briarwood is an area where deputies frequently respond to calls.

"Part of our job is to make our presence known, as well as it is to actually go field calls, so that is an area that does see some police attention but there are a lot of things that happen in areas like that that we are never notified. People are afraid at times to call," Cree said.

Roxane Reynolds said many people in the community don't call police because they are afraid they'll put themselves in danger.

"They're scared. They're scared people are going to retaliate against them," Reynolds said.

Another person who lives nearby told NewsChannel 18 she sees drug deals about two to three times a week and said one was about to happen before we showed up with a camera.

Sgt. Cree said anyone who sees suspicious activity is encouraged to call the Sheriff's department and can do so with the anonymous hotline.

"If they use the WE-TIP hotline that is totally anonymous, you can't even give your name. They'll ask you right off the bat, don't give us your name or provide any information," Cree said.

The WE-TIP hotline is available 24-hours a day and can be reached at 800-78-CRIME or 800-782-7463.

Briarwood Apartments management issued a notice of the incident to residents and told NewsChannel 18 they working closely with law enforcement and members of the community to further investigate the matter.