Family blessed to be alive
Published 8:14 pm Friday, December 23, 2011
A severely damaged bullet and an empty shell casing sit on the seal of a shattered window at a Fox Hollow home Friday morning. The two items were found hours after someone fired an estimated 50 rounds into the house. -- Tim Reeves
By only a Christmas miracle, a Selma family survived more than 50 shots being fired into their Fox Hollow home Friday morning.
According to the victim, he and his wife heard shots exploding into their home at around 3:30 a.m.
“My wife shook me and said ‘somebody is shooting through the house,” the victim said. “When she said that, all I could hear was the shots cracking through the house and the only thing on my mind was my little boy.”
The shooter, the victim believes, is likely the second suspect in a burglary that occurred next door. The victim said two weeks ago he heard knocking noises and walked into the yard to see what was happening. He said he saw two men carrying a television out of his neighbor’s house. One suspect was caught, thanks to the victim’s description, while the other remains at large. The victim said the shooting was likely an attempt by the second suspect to eliminate witnesses.
“I’m thinking all of this started two weeks ago when a guy kicked in my neighbor’s door,” he said. “I head four hard knocks and went out in the yard and he ran. One ran and they caught the other one.”
The Times-Journal chose withhold the name of the victim and his family.
A tour through the home painted a frightening picture.
Shots, which had penetrated window frames and brick walls, littered every room. Many of the bullets struck the headboards of the beds the victim and his wife, as well as 9-year-old son, slept in.
Shots in to his son’s bedroom appear to have missed the child’s head by mere inches.
The victim said he did not see the shooter, but feels it was retaliation from the attempted burglary.
“I don’t have beef with anybody, I just go to work and come home,” he said. “It’s just me and my wife and son. We just try to live our lives.”
Neighbors and friends showed up at the house in the early-morning hours to help the family move out of the house. They are currently staying with family until they can find a permanent residence.
“We can’t come back here,” he said. “I have a wife and a kid to think about.”
