SAN ANTONIO — One neighbor who lives near Center and Polaris streets in east San Antonio described what happened near his home Monday night as being like a war zone.
Torrence said "It's just horrific. It feels more like the middle east and sounds like it at night."
Unblinking surveillance cameras on several homes captured the moment at 10:16 pm when a small sedan drove eastbound on Center, stopping long enough to unload 20 to 30 shots into a brick home in the 1400 block.
Police said nobody was home at the time and there were no known injuries.
Tuesday morning, the front porch of the home was still littered with shrapnel from broken bricks that were pock-marked with bullet holes.
Several windows appeared shattered, but it's unclear if they were broken in the Monday attack or previously.
The home has been the seen of gunfire in the past, including a 2020 event that police said left a 64-year-old man in critical condition.
Monday night, police officers handling a nearby call heard the shots and arrived on scene within moments.
They were unable to locate any suspects, but one officer did say on the radio that a nearby home also had some damage from the attack.
An activist who has been working to bring neighbors together to help police called the gunfire a setback, but he said he is confident their war on crime will move forward.
"This place has been under siege for decades. You just have to walk down the street to see low level criminal activity everywhere, but it's changing. It's getting better," the man said.
Video from surveillance cameras up and down Polaris Street has been shared with police.
What appears to be open drug dealing and sex crimes activity can be seen at any hour of the day and night.
With regard to the home where the shooting happened Monday, the activist said " I had a floor guy working on my house and he told me there's more activity at that drug house than at the ice house down the street from where he lives."
While neighbors are helping police gain control of the block, waiting is hard, the man said.
"It's hard to be patient though when someone fires 30 rounds of ammunition at one of your neighbor's houses," the activist said, adding "Fortunately no one was killed or injured, but this came as no surprise to anyone in the area, with that particular house."
The activist said the plan is to continue working with police "We're going to be vigilant. We're going to report criminal activity to the police and we're not going to be intimidated."
"We're going to make sure our people are safe and in the end we want the neighborhood to be safe but the city and the police need to do something about it and time is running out. Because next time? Someone's going to die" the activist predicted.
San Antonio Police said they were unable to come up with many clues about the incident.
District 2 city council representative Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said his office is working on a plan to implement new approaches to problem solving with issues like this. McKee-Rodriguez has met with neighbors on the issue and many have given his staff high marks for starting to make a difference.