WORCESTER, Mass. — Amanda Mehl was driving home from work Wednesday afternoon when she got a call that made her heart sink into the bottom of her stomach.
Her teenage daughters had just got off the school bus and were rounding the corner towards their home when a shooting happened at 32 Heroult Road.
“They actually saw the guy, heard the gunshots, as they were walking from the bus stop. They were steps away from where it happened, when it happened. Like they saw everything,” said Mehl.
With a shakiness still in her voice she described how her kids responded.
Mehl said, “Their instincts kicked in. They’re like something’s not right. We don’t like the look of the guy, we don’t like the feeling. Ran home told my husband.”
When the kids and their father walked down towards the home, one daughter said, “that’s the guy we saw.” Mehl continued, “they identified him as the person they saw running from the house and heard pop, pop, pop and they took off running to the house.”
Worcester Police said they were called to Heroult Road Wednesday afternoon around 2:20PM and found a man shot with serious wounds. He did not survive.
When a state trooper approached another man “acting suspiciously,” police said that man took a gun out, fired a round, and ran from police.
About one hour after the initial shooting call police were called to Interstate 190 for an armed man stopping traffic on the highway and pointing a gun at drivers.
Police said officers and troopers chased that man as he attempted to carjack drivers and shot at him because of the threat.
But they said the man took his own life when he turned his gun on himself.
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Mehl commented, “You always think in the back of your mind, its not in my neighborhood, family-friendly, we have kids all over the place, we know our neighbors, we say hi to our neighbors.” She continued, “You never really realize that it could be brought into your neighborhood that quickly and that easily.”
She also said the home where the man was shot and killed has renters living there including a child who also got off the bus when her daughters did Wednesday.
Less than 24 hours after the shooting, her family’s safety is all she can think about.
“Absolutely terrified. Stray bullets do not discriminate and to know that that was that close, mere houses away from is absolutely gut wrenching,” said Mehl.
Police and the Worcester DA’s office are still investigating.
They have yet to identify either man who died Wednesday.
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