FUQUAY-VARINA — Four people were shot Tuesday night at a subsidized housing complex just west of downtown, and police say no one is willing to say what happened, not even the victims.

“They are denying they got shot there,” town spokeswoman Susan Weis said Wednesday.

Weis said 911 dispatchers fielded about 20 phone calls starting about 9:50 p.m. from residents at Bay Tree Apartments off West Academy Street, where callers reported hearing at least 10 gunshots ringing throughout the neighborhood.

The shooting victims, all male, had fled by the time paramedics arrived, and no one at the apartment complex was willing to talk with police when they showed up.

Weis said 15 to 20 people called emergency dispatchers over nine minutes. She thinks the residents were reluctant to speak with the police because of fear.

“There’s a whole bunch of people who are afraid,” she said. “A lot of people who called 911 said, ‘Please don’t send the police to my house. Please don’t tell them who I am.’ ”

Police began collecting evidence at the complex while detectives visited local hospitals to inquire about patient admissions that night for gunshot injuries.

“They sought medical help,” Weis said of the victims. “They went to several hospitals. The most serious went to big WakeMed in Raleigh. At the time of the shooting, he was pretty critical. The others were treated and released.”

Police have declined to release the names or ages of the shooting victims. Weis said they were not cooperating with the police investigation.

Police have not yet determined a motive for the shootings, nor have they made any arrests.

Weis said the Bay Tree Apartments “are not unfamiliar to police.” She added that gangs are active in town, but she would not say whether gangs are a problem at the apartment complex.

McDonald: 919-829-4533