HOUSTON – It's a painful experience no child should ever have to endure.
Keyara Randle, 12, was forced to duck from gunfire -- then guide her younger siblings and new puppy to safety.
"I'm just glad that we're fine now," Keyara says as she fights back tears. "But at least we're moving."
A group of young men got into an argument Tuesday evening outside the Crossings at Hillcroft Apartments in southwest Houston.
Shots were fired during the altercation.
Keyara's mom had gone to the store to buy diapers when one of the bullets came flying into the children's room where they were preparing for bed.
Keyara says she grabbed her sister, brother and the dog and headed into the bathroom.
"I told all of them to come in there with me and locked the door first," she recalls. "And then we had got in the tub."
The children stayed locked in the bathroom until their mom returned.
Lots of tears were shed at that reunion.
It turns out the young men were arguing over a car, a cellphone and a family insult and nearly harmed another family in the process.
"For them to do that, just stupid," says Keyara's mother, Elke Igwe. "That’s a stupid act and I'm just grateful and blessed that she took action and went in the bathroom."
The family has lived in the apartments for about a year and says they've experienced very little trouble there.
But this incident has shaken them up and has led them to make the decision to move.
They are in the process of looking for a new place to live.