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Sleeping children were nearly shot as stray bullet flew through Petersburg apartment

Posted at 1:03 PM, Feb 16, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-16 13:03:21-05

PETERSBURG, Va. -- One person was struck and injured in a Petersburg apartment complex shootout early Tuesday morning. More than two dozen shots were fired on Nance Street at about 2 a.m., according to Petersburg Police.

“It all just happened so fast," one neighbor, a grandmother, said. “God was with us.”

The grandmother, who asked her name not be published, said her first concern was her grandchildren.

"I grabbed my babies, saw the curtain go up and I grabbed them over with the sheet and hit the floor," she said.

She saw the curtain go up because a bullet was fired through the window and straight past two girls asleep in the bed.

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“The bullet came through the window and went straight through to the bathroom and there’s a hole in the bathroom wall," the grandmother said. “[I just] laid there praying, because I was scared for my babies.”

A father who lives in the complex said he did the exact same thing.

“I had to grab my baby and get on the ground," he said.

Petersburg Police said investigators found shell cases from handguns and a rifle.

Some neighbors left with bullet holes in doors, shattered car windshields, and broken windows said they'd like to see more police patrols and improved neighborhood lighting.

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“I would say more light and then just occasionally have like officers ride through like anywhere else, we’re one area that needs it," one neighbor shared.

Petersburg Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.