A family is reeling after being shocked awake by what police are saying was a drive-by shooting.
At about 5:00 am on Friday morning, Frank James woke up to a loud popping noise near his house, near the corner of Lincoln and Maple streets.
“I woke up and there was all this sheetrock dust,” James told Sapulpa Times on Friday morning. “I thought something had happened with the A.C. I jumped up and turned it on to see if the blower was working.”
James said as the dust began to settle, he realized it wasn’t the air conditioning unit. That was when he started noticing the bullet holes.
“I ran around, waking up all the kids, making sure they were okay.”
The five children, ranging in age from 11 to 19 years of age, were all safe, if a little bewildered at why their dad was waking them up so early.
As James began to investigate, he found where at least a half dozen bullets had entered the house from the front and gone through walls and furniture, piercing their mementos or ricocheting throughout the house.
James and his wife, Ashley Pope, said they’ve lived in the house for about the last three years, and have no idea who would have attacked their home while they were all sleeping, except for Pope, who had left at 4:30 am for work in Sand Springs.
“We don’t have a beef with anybody,” Pope said. “No idea who would’ve done this.”
James agreed, stating, “we don’t even have anyone over that often. We go to work and come home, that’s about all we do.”
The incident was over so fast, James said he didn’t have a chance to see who it was or what sort of car they were driving.
Bullet holes were visible nearly every surface. The television in the family room, multiple bedroom walls—including those where children were soundly sleeping—a standing shelf was the only thing that shielded one child as they slept on the couch. (see more photos beneath the story).
Police were called and canvassed the area, but James said they found no shell casings and had no leads. While Sapulpa Times was interviewing the James family, the Police were out again, checking to see if neighbors had cameras that could’ve caught the perpratrator.
James says that what shocks them the most is how much of a contradiction it is to everything else they know about Sapulpa. “We’re not usually worried about anything,” he says. “I used to leave my tools and stuff in my truck, nobody ever bothered it.”
James and Pope say their attitude has changed now, because of this experience. “We’re probably going to move,” James says. “If it’s not safe for these kids, it’s not worth staying.” James and Pope asked that they not be shown on camera, because they were fearful of retribution.
Police told Sapulpa Times a report was underway, but as of yet, it has not been completed.
That block has been the scene of a rash of incidents; a man was arrested recently for spray-painting the side of a bus at the nearby Little People Learning Center.
