NATCHEZ — Several residents reported hearing gunshots fired in the area of Franklin Street at approximately 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Police, however, responded to the reports of shots fired and said they could not find any evidence of a shooting.

William Thames, who lives in the 600 block of Franklin Street, said he heard approximately four shots fired at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night.

Thames, who moved to Natchez two months ago from Pensacola, Fla., said he was surprised to hear the shots, because it was the third time it happened near his residence in the past month.

“The sad thing is that I didn’t feel compelled to act on it because I had heard them Sunday and heard somebody empty six gunshots Monday night at 11:10 p.m.,” Thames said. “I just moved to Natchez, so it’s new to me to hear shots in an urban area, but I’m getting acclimated to it.”

The incidents Thames likely heard were a shooting that occurred approximately midnight Saturday when police said a woman leaving a party fired three shots at an intoxicated man who was reportedly assaulting her.

The other incident Thames heard was Monday night when a flurry of shots were fired, police said, from a passing vehicle into the parking lot of the Zipy convenience store on Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

Police said they still are investigating both incidents.

Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong said police responded to the calls of shots fired Wednesday night but found no evidence or shell casings.

“There was no evidence of shots being fired, no casings,” Armstrong said. “Sometimes it can be fireworks or a vehicle backfiring, or it could have been a revolver that leaves no casings.”

Thames said he still loves Natchez, but said he believes the way people drive downtown with loud engines and no regard for red lights or speed limits indicates a lack of police presence downtown.

“Traffic lights are just a suggestion,” Thames said, “but my concern is more gunshots, and I’m more concerned about more crime sliding into the city. If people think they can get by with small crimes they think they can get away with bigger crimes.”

Thames said his concern was great enough that he wrote letters to both Armstrong and Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten. Thames said they both responded and had a very productive meeting.

Armstrong said all calls, whether they are mistaken calls of shots fired or legitimate calls, put a strain on police manpower.