LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Random gunfire was heard across Jefferson County as the clock struck midnight on Jan 1., signaling the start of a new year.
Amy Leenerts, founder of Free2Hope, found 25 bullets in the side of their building on Saturday. They are now marked with blue circles showing the damage.
“I was just dumbfounded until I found these big holes and then I knew someone had shot in here,” she said. “It is truly disturbing that all of that came into the house and somebody would go by and shoot that much. We are just confused – why?”
The building, located on Main Street in the Portland neighborhood, serves as a resource center for victims of sex trafficking.
“The fact that something like this happened, and it could happen again where I work at, and everything I do, is a little bit disturbing. This is supposed to be a place calm in nature,” she said.
Luckily, at the time of the shooting, no one was inside. Some bullets broke through the walls of the house. Leenerts found four bullets, all various types.
The discovery of the damage had Leenerts questioning whether there was a motive.
“I know on New Year’s Eve people like to try out on their guns on New Year’s and do them up in the air and see where they land, but this seems to be a little more targeted," she said.
Leenerts had just finished painting the outside of the building, and when she saw the damage, she was disheartened.
"We have worked so hard on this house, to fix it up, and make it nicer." She said, "It just hurts a lot," to see the holes covering the building.
Leenerts said random gunfire in the neighborhood seems to be more commonplace but she wasn’t alone in her experience.
Miles away in south Louisville, Sarah House said a bullet busted through her kitchen ceiling.
"You always hear about these things happening, and then it happens to you," she said.
The bullet surprised both she and her husband, who were inside their Okolona home at the time.
House said as gun owners they advocate for gun safety and what happened there wasn't right.
"Shooting into the air is not how you shoot," she said.
House said she said this year she heard more gunshots on New Year’s than she had ever heard before. She and her husband were outside walking during the earl evening December 31st, when they heard both fireworks and gunshots.
"My biggest fear is that someone will do this, and it will come through and injure a person, child, animal. You know you can't do this."
She said she is concerned that people will become numb to the sounds of gunshots, and hopes people will practice better gun safety.
Both House and Leenerts have filed reports with Louisville Metro Police and are waiting to hear back.
Contact reporter Elle Smith at esmith@whas11.com or on her social media outlets: Facebook or Twitter.
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