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Coming home to a crime scene

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Contributed by: Lisa Burks on 8/10/2007

As Burbank Police Chief Tim Stehr has been quoted in the news tonight as saying, this is a quiet Burbank neighborhood.

Not so tonight, Thursday, Aug. 9.

Screaming and gunfire sliced through our normally peaceful surroundings at around 5:30 p.m. Three people are dead in a murder-suicide scenario and another critically wounded in its wake. (Read more of the story as posted to the Daily News Web site.)

What appears to be either a family squabble or dispute between neighbors occurred in an apartment complex across the alley from where I live. Had I not stopped off to get my hair cut, on a whim, on my way home from work, I might have driven right up into the action, as I cut up Cypress Avenue on my usual route home.

Roads were blocked off at Sixth Street as far north as Harvard Road when I got to the area about 6:30 p.m. I talked to a Burbank police officer stationed on his motorcycle at Harvard and Kenneth roads, who told me that he was not at liberty to give me any details.

"You'll see it on the news tonight, but imagine the worse possible thing you can think of happening, and it's even worse than that," he said.

Because there is an elementary school at Cypress and Kenneth, my heart sank. Kenneth was temporarily blocked so I couldn't drive over to my street, San Jose Avenue. The officer told me I should start walking, and come get my car later.

On my way down Kenneth, a gentleman standing outside of his home told me there had just been a shooting in an apartment and that he heard several people were dead, their bodies still on the scene.

I kept walking, not sure if I wanted to really see what was going on, but unable to keep myself from getting in close and gawking. These things happen on the news, not in your own backyard.

Cypress was taped off with yellow crime scene tape but an officer let me through because I said I lived in the neighborhood. Dozens of people were standing around outside the luxury apartment complex at 612 E. Cypress Ave., in disbelief.

The sky was turning to dusk, and the batteries were low in my camera, but I got a few photos and one, seen here, came out OK. It shows officers standing at the entrance of the apartment, and an orange barrier surrounding what I was told was the body of one of the victims.

The alley, too, was blocked off and police officers asked me to walk around the school to get to my place on San Jose. By this time, Kenneth was cleared for traffic so I got my car and drove home.

Flashing police lights, news camera crews, people milling about and talking quietly in small groups, helicopters overhead best describes what it was like near my apartment. I opened my back gate near the garbage dumpster, looked down the alley and saw a police officer standing guard, his arms folded and advising me with a stern look to go back in my yard.

No need to tell me twice.

I walked back to San Jose and Sixth, and as close to Cypress, where a mobile crime lab was parked, as I could get. I talked with people along the way, all who were stunned, and curious.

Two of my neighbors, a couple who were home at the time and taking an afternoon nap, said they were awakened by what they counted to be 21 gun shots, lots of screaming and police officers everywhere.

A newsman from KCAL told a group of us that the police would surely be working through the night and in to tomorrow, status quo for such incidents.

Not status quo, though, for this corner of the world.

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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments

Submitted By: Jackie Houchin

posted on 8/21/2007 @ 11:19:04 PM

Rated Story

Great coverage of a scary event. It's terrible when it gets so close to home. A similar thing happened on my street on Monday, only it was a hostage situation with a drug bust following. (And there were little kids inside!) Thankfully, no one was shot. But that's WAY to close for comfort - like you said.

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Submitted By: Pam Vetter

posted on 8/12/2007 @ 12:41:53 AM

Rated Story

Unbelievable. Thanks for sharing view of the story, Lisa, although so sad.

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