Celebratory gunfire enters child's room at Oak Forest home

HOUSTON – A Houston family is pleading with the public to reconsider how they celebrate the holidays after a bullet pierced the ceiling of their child's nursery.

Fortunately, the Castillos were not home when celebratory gunfire hit their home in the Oak Forest subdivision of northwest Houston.

"It’s hard to think about when it’s really close to your family," said Neftaly Castillo.

Despite hearings pops from time to time, Castillo never worried about the safety of his home because those sounds were always in the distance.

“Not anything that comes close to home," said Castillo.

The couple celebrated the Fourth of July at a family member's house, and on Wednesday night, they came home from celebrating another birthday with family. Castillo’s wife was showing off their 7-week-old daughter's recently completed nursery.

“My sister-in-law looks up and says, ‘Hey, what’s that?'" Castillo said.

What Castillo's sister-in-law was referring to was a hole in the ceiling.

“I mean I didn’t think bullet, but then, you know, my sister-in-law was like, ‘Well, are you sure it’s not a bullet?'" said Castillo.

The family scoured the floor and quickly found a bullet slug on the floor of the nursery.

"That freaked me out a little bit," said Castillo.

Castillo said their daughter has been sleeping next to their bed in the master bedroom since she was born, so the couple had not been in the nursery for a couple of days.

“If was any other room, OK, it happened, but it happened in the baby’s room is just something that kind of opens your eyes," said Castillo.

This why the family spoke publicly; hoping at least one person will see what could have happened in their home and think twice before celebrating another holiday by shooting a gun in the air.

“A gun owner at that time can think about, or their family members, or anybody who hears about this story, they can say, ‘Hey, you know what, let’s not do that,’” said Castillo.

Like many other similar cases, officials with the Houston Police Department said it is unlikely officers will find the person who fired that shot.

Castillo said the officer who took his report told him the shot was likely fired somewhere between a quarter to a half mile from his home.

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About the Author:

Award winning investigative journalist who joined KPRC 2 in July 2000. Husband and father of the Master of Disaster and Chaos Gremlin. “I don’t drink coffee to wake up, I wake up to drink coffee.”