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Man's home engulfed in gunfire

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

(Updated Thursday, April 30 - 5:40 am)

By Ryan Seals
Staff Writer

GREENSBORO — Police are looking for two people including a teenager who unleashed a hail of gunfire into a Greensboro man’s home Monday evening, leaving his residence and multiple vehicles riddled with bullet holes.

The shooting happened just after 7 p.m. at 4821 Shady Pine Drive, near North Church Street in north Greensboro.

The homeowner, George Coleman, 65, said he was attending a Bible study at his church, where he serves as an associate minister, when he got an urgent call to return home.

Coleman said his stepson, who was home alone, told him that two men, possibly armed with high-powered rifles, were let out of a car near his home on a dead-end street.

They walked in front of his home and opened fire, sending a dozen bullets into the house, three cars and a neighbor’s home, Coleman said as he assessed the damage Tuesday.

“He said they came up the street and came back down. A lady was sitting in the car waiting on them when they shot the place up, and they got in and left,” Coleman said.

He said his stepson, who’s in his 40s, was playing video games when he noticed the two men, whom he didn’t recognize. The stepson ducked for cover when the men opened fire. No injuries were reported.

In all, police counted five bullets in Coleman’s home, including one that went through a bedroom window, a wall and an open bathroom door before shattering a mirror and lodging into a second wall.

Another round went through the siding of a neighbor’s home. Six bullets shattered windows and flattened a tire among three cars, including Coleman’s Nissan Altima, which he received as a wedding gift last year.

“I really just thanked God that no one got hurt,” Coleman said.

“You can replace a car, you can replace a house, but you can’t replace a life.”

Police Lt. Dennis Willoughby said witnesses described the shooters as black men.

One was described as being about 5 feet 3 inches tall, 130 pounds and about 14 years old.

No other information was available on the second shooter, but a witness reported the shooters fled in a black, early ’90s-model Honda Accord, Willoughby said. Neighbors declined to talk to the News & Record.

Police do not have a motive, and information about the weapons used was not immediately available.

Coleman said his wife had owned the home for about 10 years before he moved in recently after their marriage.

He said the family has no enemies and said he was clueless why anyone would target them.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com

Accompanying Photos

Nelson Kepley

Photo Caption: George Coleman said a bullet entered a window of his home Monday evening on Shady Pine Drive then penetrated an interior wall, and a door before hitting this mirror inside a bathroom of his home.

Additional Photos

GOT INFORMATION?

Anyone with information about the crime is urged to call Greensboro Crime Stoppers at 373-1000. Callers remain anonymous and are eligible for a cash reward.

What do you think?

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Gray

April 28, 2009 - 11:29 pm EDT

Around 14 years old?!? But...you referred to two men. Surely this is a typo, right?

Ryan Seals

April 29, 2009 - 11:53 am EDT

It was said that way over space reasons... the age was an estimate police got, nothing concrete. "Men" makes it read easier.

notoriousBLOG

April 29, 2009 - 9:27 am EDT

"He said the family has no enemies and said he was clueless why anyone would target them."
Maybe Mr. Coleman should get a clue, and find out what his stepson is up to. Young black punks with guns, too stupid to even know what they are doing. When will the black community ever wake up and decide that this is wrong. The police are very limited in what they are able to do because then they will be accused of racial profiling. Gun control will do nothing to control this type of activity, only people with backbone and courage will ever stop it.

bigwill

April 29, 2009 - 10:42 am EDT

Every day there is always at least 2 articles on this site about robberies and shootings involving Blacks. Does nobody see the issue here? Even black people should be able to see what our problem is. I never see anything on here about black person shoots white person for being racist. Its always about a black person robbing or shooting someone else for no reason whatsoever other than they are losers. Most of the time its against another black person, so how can people help each other if they can't help themselves.

kaye

April 29, 2009 - 2:30 pm EDT

Hey racist person. please be advised it's more than African Americans committing crimes in the city. Crimes cover all colors. The murder in new Irving park wasn't by a black person. There are just as many white people in the area's most wanted page in the paper. Don't post comments in this paper that would make you appear to be an IGNORANT BIGGOT".

bigwill

April 29, 2009 - 3:01 pm EDT

Wow, Im not racist, I dislike everyone the same. Its unfortunate that you can only compare one white murder to the dozen that are on here everyday performed by blacks. Go back and look at the past stories, I guarantee I can count more black crimes than any other race on here. By the way, since when is stating facts being racist? Oh yeah, thats right, I forget the only ignorant people today are the people who can't except a true statement. If you read retard, I never said that whites or any other races don't kill people, I simply stated that there is a trend here about the robberies and shootings going on. Oh yeah, if it wasn't a race thing then that means I would be able to live in smith homes peacefully, but I can't. So who is racist then?

iluvthegatecity

April 29, 2009 - 11:17 am EDT

It's an unfortunate situation for something like this to happen. I truly hope, whoever is responsible for this heinous crime is brought to justice and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Personally, I grew up in that area. This is an area full of hard working people that take pride in their homes and community. These people are Doctor, Lawyers, Educators, and Businessmen/women that make up this community. The Evans Orchard neighborhood has transformed this whole community to a war zone. I begging each person in the Peach Orchard community & surrounding neighborhoods to band together and look out for each other, let these criminals know that we are watching and they will be caught. We have to stop turning the other way, and start looking after one another like we did in the past! I truly hope if there are any witnesses, they will be man or woman enough to come forward so these criminals will be caught! I wish The Peach Orchard community can once again be a place of prosperity, a place where children can play outside and parents not worry about something happening to their child, this wish can be only be realized if we band together and make these criminals understand that these types of actions will not be tolerated!

P.S. Notoriousblog it’s not a black, white, brown problem. Ignorance is colorblind evil. Racism will only perpetuate dumb actions, so please get a LIFE. Be part of the solution and not the problem. What are you doing in the community to change someone else life or doing to make the Greensboro a better place???

Kornbluth

April 29, 2009 - 3:19 pm EDT

"I truly hope if there are any witnesses, they will be man or woman enough to come forward so these criminals will be caught! I wish The Peach Orchard community can once again be a place of prosperity, a place where children can play outside and parents not worry about something happening to their child, this wish can be only be realized if we band together and make these criminals understand that these types of actions will not be tolerated! "

The criminals will be caught and the community will be livable is Peach Orchard residents are willing to come forward, tell the police what they know, and testify in court if asked. The question is whether they want a good community badly enough to go to that much trouble. If not, the criminals, thugs & drugdealers will quickly realize that these types of actions WILL be tolerated.

connieohyeah

April 29, 2009 - 8:23 pm EDT

Yes, you are right!

Get A Clue

April 29, 2009 - 12:18 pm EDT

That person is probably doing what I'm also doing to make Greensboro a better place to live.
We're NOT doing or dealing drugs.
We're NOT unemployed.
We're NOT dropping out of school.
We're NOT solving our 'problems' with violence.
We ARE law-abiding citizens who report suspicious behavior to the police, who pay taxes, who have every right to expect everyone else--regardless of backgroud, color, gender or upbringing to do the same.
When will the individual members of any distinct community wake up and rid themselves of the cancer within?
President Obama faced the same trials and tribulations. He's happily married and a great dad, too. He earned our nation's support to be our President. So as far as I'm concerned, no one has an excuse to do anything but their best. No whining about upbringing, social class, race or anything else. No thuglife, no babymomma, no "No hablo ingles."

KBNS

April 29, 2009 - 2:16 pm EDT

It's ashamed that our young people are doing things like this. Do they not realize that this will come back to them in the future? The BIBILE reads in:

Galatians 6:7-10

7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Both Pastor and Stepson claim they have no problems with anyone. There had to be some kind of confrontation for this to happen. Not enless, these guy's targeted the wrong house and jeapordized innocent lives. They need to turn themselves in to the police.

connieohyeah

April 29, 2009 - 8:22 pm EDT

I'd say these two punks' (reads as easily as 'men,' and is more accurate) motive was to "look hard." They're probably trying to "prove" themselves (in rational speak - show how stupid they are) so they can join up with the other idiots running around their hood in 6xL white tees with blue and red bandannas hanging out of their back pockets.

The problem really is education. I'm going to assume (yes, make an ass out of u and me...) that these punks have little familial supervision and no authoritative guardians. (We're also assuming that they are 14 year olds.) It's possible that their mothers work very hard, all the time, and it's possible their dad is, well, who knows where. So my guess is they are bored and uneducated. They work hard to fit in in the community plagued by other punks like them. They need something positive to do, and they need some serious parenting and discipline. We need out reach. Some how we have to make going to school and LEARNING (not going to steal, fight, cheat, and disrupt classes) a fun thing to do. After school these punks have to be intercepted by more positive programs like sports, arts, hobbies, and homework. They need something to work towards, something besides looking hard and joining gangs.

That starts with the people of the community, not with Obama, Bev Perdue, or Yvonne Johnson. If you want it to happen take the steps to make it happen yourself, donate your time. (I would but I'm not actually in Greensboro right now, and my community is happily un-affected by these situations, so I'm using my democratic voice via N&R.com.) They've got to get busy doing positive things. And we've got to get our families back. A family is (well, in the situation that the couple created the kids themselves) a father and a mother, together, raising a kid. We're losing that because all these guys running around hitting puberty can't figure out how to take a second and put a condom on. Now we have kids with only one working parent and no discipline running around shooting guns in houses for no reason except inclusion in brotherly organizations, which is understandable.

Well, this is my thesis and assumption on what happened here. I know it's true for many cases, but it's also true that this might not be one of those cases.