Roanoke police are investigating an apparent murder attempt that occurred Saturday morning in the 1700 block of Melrose Avenue Northwest.

No injuries resulted.

The "shots fired" call went out to police about 10:20 a.m.

About 15 minutes later, the 19-year-old man who had just told police he'd been fired at by another man outside a store on the block paced in wide circles and talked animatedly on a cellphone as three police officers investigated the scene.

Roanoke resident Dominique Crowder said he had just emerged from the store when a man on a bicycle confronted him and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"He kept calling me names. He called me a bitch. He pulled on me and then started shooting," said Crowder, who said he then sprinted across Melrose and narrowly avoided being hit by bullets.

Crowder told a reporter that he did not know the man or why he attempted to shoot him with a handgun.

"I don't know what his problem was with me. But he almost hit me, for real," he said.

"I just got out [of jail] and I'm trying to stay out of trouble."

Crowder said he had spent a few days locked up for allegedly shooting at an occupied dwelling. Tattooed on his left cheek was a small "17."

"I did that when I was younger," he said, to represent 17th Street Northwest.

He said he did not know how many shots were fired in his direction, but witnesses reporting hearing anywhere from six to eight. A young man standing nearby said: "That's one thing people don't know. If they shoot at you, they better kill you."

Sitting on the porch of a nearby house, another young man first said he witnessed the shooting but then quickly changed his mind.

"No, I didn't see anything."

Aisha Johnson, spokeswoman for the Roanoke Police Department, said police concluded that the shooting incident did occur.

"Officers did not locate a suspect at the scene," Johnson said. "Investigation continues."