Reducing Risk When You May Be a Drive-By Target

Drive-by shootings in which a specific individual is targeted — as occurred on Serraneau Road, Belmont in March 2026 — are not random acts of street violence. They are planned attacks against people who are known to the shooter, carried out using a vehicle to deliver firepower quickly and create rapid distance after the act. The vehicle is the enabling tool: it allows the shooter to approach from any direction, fire at close range, and disappear before witnesses can obtain a clear description. Victims of targeted drive-by attacks are not selected at random; they are tracked, and their presence in particular locations confirmed in advance. Consistent appearance in the same location at predictable times is what allows an attacker the certainty that the target will be there. Changing when and where you are visible significantly disrupts the attacker’s ability to plan and execute an approach.

Steps to follow:

• If you are involved in a known dispute, have received threats, or have reason to believe others consider you a target, report this to police immediately and document every threat in writing with the date, content, and source.
• Vary the times, locations, and routes of your regular movements — consistency in where you appear and when is the primary information a vehicle-based attacker needs to plan the approach.
• Avoid remaining stationary for extended periods in open, roadside locations, particularly after dark; a vehicle can close to shooting distance in seconds, and a person standing at the roadside provides no cover and limited reaction time.
• Be alert to vehicles that reduce speed near you without an obvious cause — a vehicle that slows, passes, and then circles back is a significant warning sign; move immediately toward a building entrance, a populated area, or a point of cover.
• If shots are fired from a vehicle in your direction, drop immediately to the ground and move to cover behind a solid structure such as a concrete wall, a parked vehicle, or the corner of a building — do not run in an exposed, open direction.
• Once safe, report to police with as much detail as possible: the vehicle description, direction of approach, number of visible occupants, and the exact location and time of the incident.