WILKES-BARRE -- A stray bullet almost hit a sleeping girl at a troubled housing complex in Wilkes-Barre.
Police said a gun accidentally went off in an apartment in Sherman Hills on North Empire Court around 3 a.m. on Wednesday.
Authorities said the bullet went through the floor of an upstairs apartment and hit the floor, just a few feet away from a girl sleeping in bed.
Wilkes-Barre Police said the gunshot appears to be an accidental discharge, but officers are still investigating the circumstances.
Kiyara Gause told Newswatch 16 that she is upset by the way the property managers have been handling the crime issues at Sherman Hills, after her 6-year-old daughter was nearly hit by the stray bullet.
"I heard a boom! I got up to see and I looked up on the ceiling and I saw a hole on the wall. I looked down on the floor and I saw a little bullet,” said Gause. "They need to do something like put some cameras in the buildings, lock the building, put some security guards, something. Because we got kids in this neighborhood and it's sad that I can`t be in my own house. I`m not safe in my own house.”
Officials with the Department of Housing and Urban Development says it is up to local law enforcement and the property managers of private, federally-subsidized low income housing complexes to decide if tenants can keep guns on the property.
An official with HUD, and a representative for the Wilkes-Barre Police Department, said it’s unclear if tenant’s leases restrict or ban firearms at Sherman Hills.
The owners of Sherman Hills did not return calls from Newswatch 16.
Several people who live at Sherman Hills said they believe that tenants should not be allowed to keep guns on the property.
"If people keep acting like this and can`t control themselves, they really shouldn`t have guns because apparently, they are very irresponsible with weapons,” said Kaiti Henchenski.
"Well it's America. So if you got the permit, I guess. I wish they wouldn`t,” said Yolanda Lee.
Police have not yet publicly identified the person who fired the shot, or said if any charges or citations will be filed.
Gause told Newswatch 16 that her daughter is unharmed and that she went to school just a few hours after the incident in Luzerne County.
Sherman Hills has come under fire after a recent rash of crimes.