BEAUMONT, Texas — Beaumont Police are investigating a shots fired incident that left bullet holes in a Beaumont fire station over the weekend.
Beaumont Fire Rescue's station number two was struck by several bullets early Sunday morning, according to Beaumont Fire Chief Earl White.
Chief White is calling the incident "an attack on his staff and the community".
The station is at 4990 Helbig Rd, which is just north of the intersection of East Lucas Dr and Helbig Rd.
The stall doors on the station were hit by several shots around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, according to White. No one was injured.
Chief White says that this is not the first time the station has been on the receiving end of a bullet, and the department wants to know who is pulling the trigger.
"When I get those calls at that time in the morning that's my biggest concern. Are our personnel safe?"
Beaumont Police officers were sent to call in the 4900 block of Helbig Rd for a "deadly conduct" call at 3:07 a.m., Sunday, according to dispatch records.
Less than 20 minutes later at 3:25 a.m. an "ID call" was logged at the same location. "ID Calls" generally result in crime scene techs being sent out to a call.
"The station was hit with gunfire about 3 in the morning (Sunday). It's disappointing the station itself is owned by the city, but it's a part of the community," said Chief White.
Officers were at the call for nearly two hours with the call being closed out just before 5 a.m., according to dispatch records.
Chief White says that the bullets struck several stall doors and the stations front door.
"Right now we're just having to replace the glass. It's tempered glass, hurricane resistant, so it's pretty expensive," said White.
With only a railroad track across the street from the station the chief was left to wonder, were they targeted or were these simply stray bullets?
"At this point we don't know. We've reviewed camera footage and we're still continuing to review camera footage," said White.
The chief says that in the past firefighters vehicles have been broken into and burglarized, and two years ago bullets hit the side of the building near Elmo Willard Library.
"Fortunately in those incidents it appeared to be random gunfire. In this case, I'm hoping the station was not the target," said White.
White says the safety of his staff and serving the community are his top priority.
"This is not going to temper what we do here. we want to know who did this and why. this is not only an attack on our fire station it's an attack on the community," said White.
12News is working to find out more about the incident.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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