The Madison Police Department and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a drive-by shooting on Meadow Ridge Drive on July 20, which has resulted in one arrest.
Bullets struck two homes, but no injuries were reported.
According to reports, Sgt. Travis Stubbs of the Madison Police Department was dispatched to Meadow Ridge Drive in reference to a drive-by shooting that had just occurred. Neighbors reported hearing gunshots and seeing a black truck leaving the area with two male subjects in the bed of the truck with guns.
Officer Emily Eaton, Sgt. Blake Rowe and Deputy Thomas Morgan of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office were also involved in the investigation.
Stubbs found 10 shell casings from a 9mm handgun and one .223 shell casing in front of 858 Meadow Ridge Dr. Sgt. Rowe identified two homes that bullets had struck: one at 795 E. Washington St. and the other at 841 Harris Ave. Both dwellings were occupied, but no injuries resulted from the gunfire, according to reports.
Field interviews conducted shortly after the incident revealed that one of the suspects had been wearing red.
Further interviews revealed that 17-year-old Melvin Tiller had been wearing red before changing clothes following the incident and heading to work at Taco Bell.
Deputy Bishop was sent to Taco Bell to make contact with Tiller and learned he was not at work and not scheduled to work until the next day.
Tiller’s father arrived at the crime scene and told law enforcement officers that he was in contact with his son by phone. Tiller had not left the residence to go to work, as Stubbs was led to believe in an earlier interview with a man who claimed to be Tiller’s grandfather.
Stubbs made contact with Tiller at the residence, and Tiller told him that he was walking east on Meadow Ridge Drive toward East Washington Street when a black truck pulled up beside him, also traveling toward East Washington Street.
Tiller identified the two individuals sitting in the rear seats of the truck and said the two got out and started shooting at him as he stood in front of 896 Meadow Ridge Drive.
Tiller said he ran toward the house located there and the truck drove away with the two individuals who he claimed shot at him riding in the bed.
Stubbs went back to 896 Meadow Ridge Dr. and found a 9 mm handgun against the back wall of the house.
According to Stubbs, the slide of the handgun was locked to the rear, which meant it had been fired until it was empty. Officer Eaton ran the serial number of the firearm, and it was determined to have been stolen out of Jasper County.
Stubbs made contact with Tiller again and asked him for the truth.
Tiller then said that when the two individuals got out of the truck to shoot at him, he returned fire. He also said the two individuals had given him the 9mm handgun a few days prior.
At that point, Tiller was arrested and transported to the Morgan County jail. He was charged with reckless conduct and theft by receiving stolen property.
According to the Madison Police Department, the investigation is ongoing, and additional arrests and charges are pending.
Video footage of the incident may exist, but it had not been reviewed at the time of press.