AUSTIN, Texas — Neighbors say they’re alarmed after two people were shot at a northwest Austin apartment complex early Wednesday morning.
The incident happened at the Chesapeake Apartments on Hymeadow Drive. Officers said they found two victims, who were sent to a nearby hospital.
Ritesh Sharma, who lives in the Hidden Meadow neighborhood just feet away from the apartments, said he and his wife woke up in a panic around 12:30 a.m.
“We just got woken up to the sounds of gunfire and immediately we thought, ‘We got to go to our son.’ So, ran into his room to make sure that he’s OK and lay down on top of him,” Sharma said.
He said he worries the shooting won’t be the last, saying issues at the apartment complex have been escalating.
Alex Hilderbrand, who lives across the street from Sharma, said for the past year, noise from the apartment complex has been the biggest issue.
“Tenants – not everyone in the apartment complex, obviously, but just a few – will start a block party at noon, which will go until 3 in the morning. Extremely loud bass music – it’s loud enough that we can hear it inside our home, you know, a football field away,” he said.
He also said litter from the parties drifts into their yards and is sometimes thrown over the fence of neighbors like Sharma. They’ve also captured people driving recklessly in the apartment’s parking lot.
“There is a concern for safety and crime, right? For the kids, it could get worse because it doesn’t seem like the problem is managed correctly,” Hilderbrand said.
He said he’s personally reached out to the Chesapeake’s apartment’s property managers, RPM Living, more than a dozen times about their concerns but hasn’t seen any action taken.
Hilderbrand said he and several other neighbors just want to work with the property managers to improve their quality of life.
“I think noise is a primary issue and, obviously, now it’s escalated to the point where safety is an issue for the tenants of the apartments. Of course there’s the fear that that would expand into our street in our neighborhood as well,” he said.
KVUE reached out to RPM Living about these neighbors’ concerns, and it has yet to respond.