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Stray bullet nearly hits those inside Fort Myers home

Posted at 6:27 PM, Mar 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-29 06:46:08-04

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A Fort Myers couple is asking gun owners to be more responsible after a stray bullet flew through their Fort Myers mobile home roof, nearly hitting them in their sleep over the weekend.

Lynn Kent showed Fox 4 his ceiling, where the bullet entered he and his wife's home at Sun-N-Fun mobile homes Sunday. He said he and his wife Janice were sleeping when he heard a loud bang. "I immediately woke up and knew it wasn't something that fell over like a dish or a lamp," he said. "I knew it had to be something serious."

Upon turning on the lights, the couple realized they were covered in debris. They called the sheriff's office, who arrived in minutes. That's when they discovered a 38 caliber bullet wedged in the carpet, between their headboard and the wall. The most frightening part for them was that Janice's pillow was just inches away. "It was about 4 to 6 inches from her head, and at the velocity it was traveling, I'm sure it could've killed her," said Kent.

Sheriff's deputies informed the couple someone shot a celebratory shot in the air on a street nearby. Janice Kent said neighbors heard the shots, but did not report them because they weren't sure whether the sound came from fireworks or gunshots. "I would encourage people, if you hear something like that, call the sheriff's office," she said. "Because they did tell us, had they had reports, they would have been driving out here, trying to see if somebody was shooting."

But more importantly, the couple wants the person who pulled the trigger to be more responsible. "We want people to know, don't shoot guns up in the air and think that bullet is not going to hit somebody. It could," said Janice Kent.