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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When Jonathan Wiest awoke to the sound of gunfire early Saturday, he looked outside and saw his neighbor firing several rounds in his direction. He and his wife grabbed their 2-week-old daughter and hid in the bathtub, terrified they were about to be hit by bullets.

“I saw him clear as day, I saw the handgun, it was so close to my house,” Wiest said. “I saw the muzzle flash toward my house and could feel the (vibrations from the shots) ‘womp, womp’ in my chest when he fired.”

Wiest said he called the police several times, as did his neighbor to the east, who was also hiding from the shooter.

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Police say as many as 50 bullets were fired, hitting three houses and a couple of cars, on the 700 block of Landman NE near Tramway and Lomas. The next night, they say there was another bout of gunfire.

On Monday, detectives filed an arrest warrant for the man they say is responsible, according to a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department. As of Monday evening, he had not been arrested.

Officer Tanner Tixier said detectives plan to charge 29-year-old Derek Foote with three counts of shooting at an occupied building – a fourth-degree felony. He said officers initially didn’t realize that the rounds had struck houses, so they treated the incident as a negligent use of a weapon charge – a misdemeanor. He said they now plan to charge Foote with a felony.

“Early Saturday morning, we received numerous calls from numerous neighbors saying they have a neighbor who was firing off multiple rounds,” Tixier said. “Two officers and a sergeant were immediately dispatched as a priority one call. As they got there and got more information about shots being fired, we dispatched an additional two officers so we had five officers on scene.”

Detectives had not interviewed Foote as of Monday afternoon and don’t know yet why he was firing, Tixier said.

It’s not the first time Foote has been charged with shooting at an occupied building. Almost exactly a year ago, he was arrested after firing a gun in a living room during an argument at a Northwest Albuquerque house, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. His arraignment for that case will be held in the 2nd Judicial District Courthouse next week.

He pleaded guilty to negligent use of a weapon in 2011, according to online court records. Two other cases charging him with negligent use of a weapon – one in 2006 and one in 2014 – were dismissed.

Tixier said although dispatch receives several “shots fired” calls every night, it’s rare to see that much gunfire.

“We rarely see it happen this severely, with the exception of the Fourth of July and New Years,” Tixier said.

The neighbors say they’re gratified that the police are pursuing felony charges and taking it seriously, but wish more had been done the first night to arrest Foote. Tim Cox, who lives next door to the house, said Foote doesn’t live there, but he has seen him visit in the past.

“Everyone still feels very unsafe,” Cox said. “We don’t know where he is. A lot of the neighbors are spending the night somewhere else. It’s a scary situation for everybody and it’s frustrating.”