Strips of what appear to be tape mark bullet holes in this window at 11 Kennedy Park after a shooting Wednesday night. In all, there are 10 bullet holes in this window, and one bullet hole in another nearby window. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Several bullets were found inside a home in Kennedy Park Wednesday night after reports of gunfire in the area.

None of the occupants of the apartment was injured in the shooting, which occurred around 10 p.m., but bullets were found in several bedrooms, including one where a 1-year-old child sleeps in a crib, the Portland Police Department said Thursday.

“This is the third incident (this year) where shots were fired into homes occupied by innocent children,” interim Police Chief F. Heath Gorham said in a statement. “We continue to say how fortunate we are that a child wasn’t struck by one of these bullets and are thankful that nobody was hurt, but this cannot be our answer. We need the community to help us identify the people responsible so we can hold them accountable for their actions.”

Police have not announced any arrests. According to departmental statistics, there have been 54 incidents involving gunfire in the city so far this year. That number, which includes instances where people have been wounded or killed, is more than three times as many reported in all of 2021.

Outside the apartment at 11 Kennedy Park, a group of women were hastily packing a car Thursday afternoon, their belongings packed into garbage bags.

A young woman, who declined to give her name because she feared for her and her family’s safety, said she was visiting from Bangor and staying with her parents and two younger sisters, all of whom just moved into the apartment about a week ago.

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The woman said she and her 17-year-old sister were getting ready for bed Wednesday night, while her mother was with her 1-year-old sister on the couch in the living room. Her father was at work.

The woman said she heard a knock at the door and went to a window to see who it was. “As soon as I moved the blinds, I saw them … and he shot,” the woman said.

Police said the shooter used a rifle to fire multiple rounds into the home, just above the staircase to the front door.

Several bullets were found inside this home at 11 Kennedy Park, left, on Wednesday night after a shooting. Ten bullet holes are in the center window above the door, while another bullet hole is in the upper right window. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Nearly a dozen bullet holes appeared in the windows of the apartment Thursday.

Police said the shooter was wearing a white T-shirt and black leather jacket. The man fled in a silver or gray sedan along with a second man who was wearing a red jacket with a fur-lined hood.

The woman said she was in shock and didn’t know the man who had appeared outside the window. “I’ve been visiting for two days,” she said. “My mom has lived here for a week. Nothing was set up. Everything is still in boxes. They were just at the wrong house, I think.”

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She said the family was going to get away from the apartment for a while and see if they could move somewhere else. “She’s not sleeping here, she said,” the woman said of her mother.

Several neighbors said they heard the gunfire unfold and that it scared their children, but many did not want to give their names as they also feared for their safety.

One woman said she heard a loud noise that prompted her to throw the book she was reading. “I’m so scared,” said the woman, who said she has lived in Kennedy Park for almost 15 years. “I’ve never heard something like that.”

A boy kicks a soccer ball at Fox Field in July, near where police say a man fired a rifle into a home Wednesday night. Staff photo by Derek Davis

Maj. Robert Martin of the Portland Police Department said Thursday that police are investigating whether the attack was targeted and, if so, whether the people who live there were the intended targets.

“This appears to be a targeted attack, but the occupants of the apartment have only lived there for a short period of time,” Martin said in an email. “We are still investigating that. There is a chance that they targeted the wrong apartment.”

Kennedy Park is a low-income public housing community in the East Bayside neighborhood.

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Wednesday’s gunfire comes two days after police announced an arrest in a July 4th shooting near the park. Hamza Hassan, 46, of Portland was arrested Monday in Medford, Massachusetts, by members of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Hasaan is facing elevated aggravated assault and reckless conduct charges for allegedly shooting a 35-year-old Portland man. As police responded to the scene, the victim was being assaulted. While officers were trying to help the man, a “hostile” crowd formed and officers “came under attack” as people set off fireworks aimed at them, Portland police said.

The officers responded by shooting pepper balls into groups of people who were “targeting officers with mortar-style fireworks.” Pepper ball projectiles – fired by a launcher similar to a paintball gun – are plastic-encased capsaicin powder that irritates the eyes and respiratory system if inhaled. No officers were seriously injured.

Police are urging anyone who has any information about Wednesday’s shooting to call them at 207-874-8575.

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