Resident Hears Shots Near Niguel Hills Middle School

A resident near the cross streets of Golden Lantern and Paseo Escuela told Patch that there were a number of loud sounds heard late Wednesday night, prompting her to call to 911.

"We heard what we thought were shots fired around 10:45 p.m., Dec. 19, what we thought to be from .  At the time of the fifth shot, I saw a bright white light just off our hill, and saw the same bright light at the same time of the sixth 'shot,' Koni Vaiasicca wrote.

"We had called 911 and were told that there were nine other calls that had come in prior to ours.

"From our vantage point, we saw a person arrive and park below our hill shortly after the loud sounds, get out of his car, walk toward the school, saw the police that had arrived and quickly got back to his car," she continued. "My husband also saw they young man throw something in the bushes below our property and pick it back up shortly after he saw the law enforcement.

"I was on the phone with the 911 tech and explained all that was happening while it was occurring. I have still not seen any report of this incident nor have heard back from the sheriff’s department regarding our call.

"Is there anything you know about this incident?  Is there anywhere I can actually see what was the outcome? We are very concerned," she said.

A call to Lt. Roland Chicone of the Orange County Sheriff's Department on Tuesday resulted in an answer for Vaiasicca.

"We got a call around 10:35 p.m. near the school and sent a patrol officer," he said. "The person who called reported that the noise was fireworks. When the officer arrived there was nothing suspicious and there was nobody there."

Chicone added that there was another call reporting similiar sounds the previous night.