The Branson Police releases information about a shooting incident that happened just outside of the city.

The full release from the City of Branson Facebook Page is below:

Monday night, just after 7 pm, Branson PD Officers responded to the area of the Branson Hills Golf Club on reports of an active shooter.  The officers met with a group of golfers who reported hearing gunshots close by them.  

While the gunshots had ceased before officers arrived, BPD exercised caution in evacuating people from the area, requesting additional resources from surrounding agencies and deploying our drone.  After thoroughly checking the area, no subjects were located with firearms in the area and no bullet impacts were located.  

Tuesday, Detectives carried out a thorough analysis of the area and located the likely area that the shots were fired.  This area was a vacant lot and, when checked by Detectives, several fresh shell casings were located.  The casings were recently fired and the number of casings found were consistent with the number of shots reported by witnesses.  The location was adjacent to, but a higher elevation than, the area on the golf course that the shots were reported.  All evidence found indicates that someone was target shooting in the vacant area and not targeting humans.  While the persons shooting may have believed there was a solid backdrop for their shots to travel into, they did not take into account the density of the tree tops and the elevation drop beyond them.  

The location where the shots were fired was not in the city limits of Branson so Detectives notified the appropriate agency, who responded and collected the shell casings for analysis.  The investigation is ongoing but BPD is confident that there is no ongoing threat to the community from this incident.  

BPD would like to remind those in the region that firearms use comes with great responsibility and that the shooter is responsible for each round fired.   Following the fundamental firearms safety rules helps to prevent tragedy.  These rules are:
1. Treat all firearms as if they are always loaded.
2. Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until on target and ready to fire.
3. Never let your muzzle cover anything that you are not willing to destroy.
4. Be sure of your target and beyond.   

BPD would like to thank the public for their concern and assistance last night, as well as the surrounding agencies that assisted.  We also encourage anyone that has further questions on safe locations to practice shooting, the laws regarding shooting in various jurisdictions, or any other firearms related questions, to contact the law enforcement agency that services their address or any of the many firearms ranges/clubs in the region.