A shooting in Harrisburg on Saturday peppered a nearby fire station with stray bullets that were found lodged into the building and damaging three rigs.
In a post on the station’s Facebook page, Harrisburg Bureau of Fire Station 2 shared photos of the bullet holes in the station’s bay doors and a fire truck.
“Yesterday during the day shift, two firemen of the “Bravo” platoon were nearly struck by gun fire as a shootout occurred in front of the station,” the post said. “At least 9 bullet holes were found in the bay doors with bullets striking Wagon 4, Rescue 1 and a Dauphin County Haz Mat unit.”
Fire Station 2 is located on North 16th Street in Harrisburg.
Fire Chief Brian Enterline confirmed “several pieces of fire apparatus were struck, with damage to an electronic Opticom preemption transmitter, a hole in the roof of a piece of apparatus, and multiple dents and dings to apparatus.”
Enterline issued a news release Monday that said the gunfire came from occupants of two vehicles shooting at each other.
“Concerningly, this shooting happened while innocent children were playing in the school playground, customers were fueling cars at the nearby gas station, citizens were going about their normal lives, and firefighters were working just inside of the apparatus bays,” Enterline said. “Luckily, no civilians or firefighters were struck by the gunfire of these selfish deviants.”
Enterline said the shooters have no regard for the value of human life, theirs or those of innocent bystanders.
“Assuredly, if one of the shooters would have been wounded, members of the Bureau of Fire would have quickly provided life-saving aid,” he said. “Suffice it to say, we are there for all no matter the circumstances even if we ourselves could have been the victim of their heinous acts.”
The station’s Facebook post continued to say that since the station opened in 1980, it has been “no stranger to gun shots and bullet holes.”
“Just last summer the members of both “A” & “B” Platoon had to dive for cover as shots were fired from a speeding car,” the post read. “One bullet struck the front ramp just feet from where the members were standing.”
The shooting comes just after an innocent bystander was hit in the arm by a stray bullet in Hall Manor. She was the third innocent bystander to be struck within eight months in Harrisburg. She survived, but the other two women died.