"I can't even go outside past 10 p.m. because they are always out there selling drugs, fighting and engaged in criminal activity. The city must do something! It's horrible! (Area Resident)
Gunfire erupted on an Orange Street early this morning sending multiple police units to the scene to investigate.
Residents were awaken to the sound of several rounds of gunfire at around 2 a.m. forcing some of them out of their beds and onto the floor. "I heard between three to five shots while laying in bed. I got right down to the floor as usual. About 10-15 young men hang out all night long selling drugs, using profanity, and fighting" a Taylor Street resident said.
Police units arrived to the scene where they canvassed the area and shell casing were located according to reports.
According to residents on Taylor Street, the small block has become a haven for drug dealing and continuous eruptions of gunfire. "It's hard to get a good nights sleep around here because you just don't know when the guys out there will get shot at. I love my house and don't have the money to move at all. I wish it would just stop" a resident reported.
The neighborhood sits about a block and a half from the now abandoned Orange Memorial Hospital and has become known to recent violence and homicides including the fatal shooting of Orange Police Officer Kieran Shields back in 2006. According to court documents, The 32-year-old officer was killed by two blasts from a shotgun on Aug. 7, 2006, as he responded to a report of shots fired on Taylor Street. Witnesses said the gunman had fled behind an abandoned home at 170-172 Taylor St., when Shields chased after the suspect.
In February of 2008, Raynard Brown 20, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to Shields murder in early January 2008.
There has been at least one other homicide on Taylor Street since Officer Shields death:
1. 19-year-old Malcolm Bagley was gunned down on May 27, 2012 during a drive-by shooting that injured one other person. 22-year-old Mark Lovett was sentenced to 31 years in prison on July 15, 2014 for the fatal shooting.
In an interview with a resident who reported living on Taylor Street for over 20 years, the woman expressed disgust at the conditions and violence on the small block. "Orange is a beautiful city and has some great characteristics. It just seems like when city officials closed the projects, every one of the residents moved to our block" the resident said.
The long time resident was making reference to the former 140-unit Walter G. Alexander public housing complex that was located on Parrow Street and Wilson Place near Route 280 before city officials razed it in June of 2010 then replaced it with a nearly $30 million dollar redevelopment project that now has 5.8-acre of lower-density, three-story townhomes and market rate homes for sale.
Resdients said Saturday night's shooting was just one of several shootings that they believe that are conducted by suspects who are driving through targeting drug dealers that are hanging out on porches and stashing drugs in alleys. "The city has to learn their lessons from past shootings around here. They have to move the drug dealers out otherwise an innocent person is going to get killed" the long time resident said.
There were no reported arrest made in last night shooting.