Woman Shot While Sleeping
By Jamie Leary
DENVER (CBS4)- Police in Denver are investigating a woman who was shot while sleeping.
The woman, described by police as an adult female, was sleeping in the home in the 1100 block of North Willow Street when she was shot just after midnight.
"Grabbed the kids and hit the floor, basically 'til we saw the police lights flashing in the windows and we knew it was safe to come out," said neighbor Michael Swain. "It was very loud... we knew it was gunfire, it was repetitive. We all just kind of scrambled to the back of the house and huddled there until police arrived."
Officers rushed to the home. One neighbor said she saw the victim holding her stomach, but walking with paramedics into the ambulance.
The victim was rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Police do not believe the shooting was random and are investigating it as a targeted attack. Police say at this point it's not clear why this particular home was targeted. The home has multiple bullet holes which are marked by evidence tags.
There are dozens of children in the neighborhood. Swain is worried for the safety of his own children and worries the suspect will be back.
"There are at least 3-4 kids per unit and they sleep throughout the whole house so these people who are shooting at the houses, they're not being discriminate about it, they're just shooting through the house, they don't know who's bedroom they're shooting through," said Swain.
It is unknown who the target was or why the home was targeted at all. Neighbors say a family from Somalia lives there.
"You know, the real tragic thing is that they come over from a war-ravaged country like that, to the United States and they get shot in their bed," said Swain.
This is the second time in a month that gunshots have been fired in that neighborhood.
Swain says the gunfire sprayed his home and his neighbors. He says he was sitting outside just 5 minutes before it happened.
"Every house on the street got hit. Every house had at least two bullet holes in it except for one," said Swain. "Had I been there [outside] 5 minutes prior, I wouldn't be here talking to you right now."
"After the first incident, at least we felt safe behind the walls. But now we find out that this woman got shot through her bedroom window while she was in bed, so we're not even safe inside the house anymore."
Jamie Leary joined the CBS4 team in 2015. She is currently a reporter for CBS4 This Morning, which means she is always on the go, covering a wide variety of breaking local news and important local events. Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @JamieALeary.
