BRYAN, Texas — John Quinn was out of town when he got a voicemail around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday from the City of Bryan Police Department, and he immediately felt a sense of fear.
"The not knowing part was scary. Plus, I'm a criminal defense lawyer, and I didn't know if I was being singled out by some gang or they were trying to cover it by doing other people," Quinn said.
His home along with other residents' homes, and even vehicles in Austin's Colony, were vandalized Sunday morning.
He has been living in the neighborhood for nearly 30 years and has never seen anything like this before.
"It's a real nice neighborhood. No crimes. The only time it gets kind of crazy is on Halloween cause the whole world shows up thinking we have candy," he said.
City of Bryan Police Department Administrations Sergeant Broddrick Bailey says they've received at least 20 reports from residents about their homes and cars being marked with different symbols and wording.
Even the Kroger located within the Colony Park Shopping Center was tagged.
Bailey says the department is still investigating the incident, but the symbols don't appear to be gang-related.
"Right now, we’re talking with neighbors and victims in the area and we’re trying to collect video and we’re trying to ascertain who this person is and any help from the community is definitely going to assist us in that goal," Bailey said.
Now, Quinn and other residents are trying to clean up the paint using paint strippers, pressure washers, brushes and water.
Some residents even had to use Acetone to get paint off of their truck.
He says it could've been worse for him, targeting his garage door or his car instead of on the bricks on the side of his home, but he's happy the community is coming together in the process.
"I had a couple of neighbors volunteer to bring some paint cleaner and power washer and all that stuff, so it was really nice to see the neighborhood come together," Quinn said.
"But it was still frustrating like, 'Why us?,".
He also has a message for the person who tagged the neighborhood.
"I hope I'm not their lawyer," he said.
But in the meantime, Bailey says vandalism is difficult to prevent, but residents can take steps to mitigate the problem.
He says residents can call in about suspicious activity like seeing someone ducking behind cars or seeing someone cutting through yards at early morning hours.
Residents can also add additional lighting around their home or speak to other neighbors.
"If you have dark spots around your house, turn some initial lighting on, if possible and communicate with your neighbors and talk to your neighbors and see if they've seen anything suspicious throughout the night or throughout the day," Bailey said.
Broddrick encourages anyone with information or video footage to contact the department.