A resident of a public housing community on St. Thomas was accused of causing injury to a number of minors gathered near her home. Police were called to the scene after the parents of one of the alleged victims came home with blood running down their leg.
Witnesses near the scene at Bovoni Housing Community said they heard a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot and saw a group of children running just after hearing the noise.
Those witnesses also told police they saw a neighbor in the area holding what looked like a pellet gun. Court documents filed in Superior Court said officers on the scene located a suspect based on a description given by one of the minors at the scene.
The accused assailant — identified as Tischelle Turnbull — was found sitting in an area outside of her apartment, the police report said. She was arrested shortly thereafter.
A resident who made an emergency call to 911 told police her child came home from playing with his friends and tried to rush past her to get to the bathroom. When the parent took a closer look, she said she saw blood running from what appeared to be a gunshot wound on the child’s leg.
Another parent said she was with her daughter near the scene where the children ran away. That witness told police she saw another minor being helped from the area with what looked like a wound to her face.
When asked about the incident on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Schneider Regional Medical Center said no one matching the description of the wounded appeared in the emergency room for treatment.
Confronting the accused, the witness said she saw a small, black pellet gun in Turnbull’s hand.
When police questioned Turnbull, they said she admitted having a gun that belonged to a friend.
“Contact was then made with Ms. Tichelle A. S. Turnbull, who stated that she was in possession of the pellet gun belonging to a friend. Ms. Turnbull stated on her way to return it, while walking out of her apartment with the pellet gun, it dropped to the floor. Ms. Turnbull stated when the pellet gun fell, it went off,” the arresting officers said.
When the gun went off, she said, a pellet ricocheted and struck three children.
At an advice of rights hearing held Wednesday, Superior Court Magistrate Simone Van Holten-Turnbull upheld charges of assault, child abuse, reckless endangerment and carrying or using a dangerous weapon by a convicted felon.
