A Texas boy is lucky to be alive after bullets from a drive-by shooting smashed through his apartment window and missed him by mere inches, as seen in disturbing security camera footage from inside his home.
The video shows Errol Hill, 9, climbing onto the couch in his living room around 7:30 p.m. just as a plume of dust and smoke erupts into the home through the front window, causing the boy to recoil in fright before taking cover behind what appears to be a washing machine.
“It came through the wall,” the shaken but unharmed youngster told NBC 5.
“I thought it was just fireworks, but when I heard the screams, I looked outside.”
Six people, including four children, were injured in the May 1 shooting at the Miramar apartment complex in Fort Worth, the victims ranging in age from 3-19, according to local reports.
Errol hit the deck as an unknown number of bullets whizzed by his head, waiting for the shots to subside before running to get his mother, Mary Jane Gonzales, in the next room.
After determining her son and two other children were safe, Gonzales, a medical assistant, heard neighbors screaming from downstairs and ran outside to see if she could help, where she learned six people had been shot.
She tried to stop the bleeding on several of the victims, including the 3-year-old, who later had to have a kidney removed as a result of her injuries.
“That one was really hard for me,” Gonzales said. “Seeing her going in and out of consciousness.”
The mom later told the outlet the incident had permanently scarred her and her family and have made them eager to move out of the apartment they’ve called home for the past four years.
“It forever changed our life. We are traumatized,” she said. “I’ve never seen anyone get shot, let alone a child.”
One of the six victims refused medical treatment for their minor injury at the scene, Forth Worth Police said in a statement. The toddler and four others were transported to area hospitals, but their current health status was not immediately clear.
The Las Vegas Trail neighborhood of Fort Worth where the shooting took place struggles with high levels of crime and poverty, according to the local government.
No arrests have been announced yet, and Forth Worth Police are soliciting tips from the public at 817-392-4222 to help them identify the suspect(s) and their vehicle.
