MONTVILLE TWP., Ohio -- Bullets from an AK-47 assault rifle whizzed past officers' heads and pierced two occupied Medina County homes about 500 yards away, becoming lodged in walls and a microwave.
Montville Township police say panicked homeowners called 911 to report the sounds of rapid gunfire and bullets hitting their houses Wednesday afternoon in the area of Windfall Road east of Interstate 71. The gunfire stopped by the time officers arrived.
Sgt. Matthew A. Neil said the officers determined the gunfire most likely came from the northeast. They began checking fields and open spaces nearby to determine the source of the gunfire.
"A second round of rapid gunfire erupted," Neil said in a press release. "During this second round of rapid gunfire, an officer reported hearing bullets going over his head, and additional 911 calls from both of the original callers reported that their houses were being struck again."
Neil said the homeowners were told to take shelter in their basements while additional officers from other departments were called in to find the shooters.
Officers determined the gunfire was coming from a home in the 5500 block of Windfall Road.
"As additional units arrived, the gunfire ceased and then started back up," Neil said. "Within seconds of the third round of rapid gunfire starting, two Montville Officers engaged two males at gunpoint."
Mark Bornino, 53, of Windfall Road, in Montville Township, and R. Daniel Volpone, 45, of Parma, were taken into custody.
Neil said charges are pending against the pair, who were taken to the Montville Jail.
Officers seized an AK-47 assault rifle with 628 rounds, a 9mm handgun with 50 rounds, a .380 handgun with eight rounds, and a .22 revolver with 40 rounds.
Neil said both men had been drinking and were shooting at paper targets with no back stop. Investigators determined that the bullets that struck the homes traveled about 500 yards.
"Both homes sustained damage, with one of the homes having two AK-47 bullet holes through the walls," Neil said. "After going through the wall, one of the rounds became lodged into a kitchen appliance, at head level."
Officers from the Medina Township Police Department and the Medina County Sheriff's Department assisted in the incident.
Copyright 2013 - The Akron Beacon Journal
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
