JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman who was eight months pregnant and struck by a bullet fired into her Ortega Farms home just after midnight Thursday has given birth to a healthy, 7-pound baby girl.
The woman, whose name is not being released, is facing surgery.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says the 29-year-old woman, whose name is not released, was hit when someone "shot a barrage of bullets" into the home in the 5200 block of Brentview Terrace in Ortega Farms.
Lt. T.C. James said the woman, three other adults and three children were in the home when multiple shots were fired. News4Jax counted nine bullet holes in one window.
"At this time we believe that someone in the house was targeted. We're not sure. It was not a random drive-by," James said. "She was in the bedroom; shot once."
Police were looking for whoever fired the shots, but did not have a description of either the car or the gunman.
The victim's sister, who was in the house at the time, said bullets "went flying everywhere."
"My mom was, like, running through the house screaming, 'She got shot in the stomach,'" said the sister. News4Jax is not naming anyone who was in the house at the time of the shooting for their own protection. "When I went in the room, it was just glass everywhere."
A neighbor said she hear the shots about 12:15 a.m.
"I was listening to the rain to go back to sleep and then I heard boom. boom, boom, boom, boom, boom," said Sharon Wain Wright. "It sounded like a firecracker going off. I didn't pay no attention to it because I hear it all the time. Then, I woke up and I saw my neighborhood was lit up like a Christmas tree."
A check of police records found six calls for service to the home over the past year, including one for a suspicious person and one for drugs. Police said none of those calls resulted in an arrest.
The victim's sister had a message for the gunman: "Bring yourself forward. .... Get it over and done with."
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
