Neighbors Shocked By Owensboro Shooting
By: Casie Mason
Updated: March 2, 2013
The shooting happened around ten Friday night in the three-hundred block of Hale Avenue. One man remains in critical condition from multiple gunshot wounds. Owensboro police say two men who know each other got into a fight leaving forty-one year old, Thomas Howe, and fifty-eight year old, Robert Niemeier, in the hospital. Today neighbors tell me they have more questions than answers about the incident. "Lara May just started to feel at home in Owensboro. She says she grew up in Columbus, Ohio, but when her parents moved to Daviess County May decided to follow suit. "They said that they heard really good things, that the crime rate was low, as it is in the whole city. It's not bad. They thought it would be a good place to live," says May. From the moment she laid out her welcome mat, May says she felt safe. She was beginning to enjoy her new apartment on Hale Avenue. "As long as I've been here I haven't seen any kind of hostility towards anybody, or raised voices even. It's just a really quiet area." But, Friday night gun shots broke the silence in this seemingly quiet neighborhood. The shooting happened just a few doors down from May. "It's definitely shocking to hear that something like that could happen in a place that you've really felt so secure in." She says 'home sweet home' now feels like like a welcome mat swept out from underneath her feet. "Just living in Columbus, I was really careful about where I went, especially at night. Since I've moved here I've probably gotten a little more relaxed then I should. I didn't really ever see a threat. Now that I know something like that has happened around here, I might be a little more careful. Maybe I should have been all along." Owensboro Police say shootings are rare in the city, and this new resident hopes it stays that way. "Hopefully it wont change the atmosphere around here."
We now know one of the men involved in the shooting, Robert Niemeier, has been released from Owensboro Health Regional Hospital after being treated for minor injuries. The second man, Thomas Howe, is in critical condition tonight, recovering from multiple gunshot wounds. Owensboro police are still investigating the incident.


