3 drive-by shootings in 25 minutes in Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa police officers are investigating three gang-related drive-by shootings within a 25-minute period early Tuesday in which homes were struck by bullets, authorities said.

Although all three residences were occupied and damaged by the gunfire, no one was hit, police said.

The series of shootings began at 12:29 a.m. when a home on the 1300 block of Rutledge Avenue, east of Highway 101, was sprayed by gunfire.

Several minutes later, someone shot up a home on the 200 block of Earle Street, on the other side of the highway and less than a mile away.

The last incident happened on the 1700 block of Hoen Avenue, about two miles from Earle Street, at 12:54 a.m.

The shooter used a handgun in all three incidents, police said.

Although bullets passed through front walls and windows and lodged in the interior walls of the homes, “remarkably, none of the residents were struck by bullets,” officials said.

Investigators believe the shootings were gang-related. No arrests have been reported.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee