Drive-by rattles family in military housing
VIRGINIA BEACH — Kristianne Parren was tired and ready for bed early Sunday when she heard what sounded like an explosion inside her Virginia Beach home. It was shortly after 1 a.m. in the Sandpiper Crescent Lincoln Military Housing complex off Shore Drive, and she and her husband had just finished moving a television into their master bedroom, she told The VirginianPilot Monday. Her husband, Nicholas, was putting away his handgun as he does every night when the shooting started.
“I thought he had dropped his firearm and it exploded or something,” said Parren, 22. “As soon as he put it away gunshots started going off throughout the house.”
Bullets sprayed through the front of the home, reaching several rooms including the living room, master bedroom and the bedroom where the Parrens’ 8month-old daughter, Mabel, lay asleep in her crib. Parren said she was caught in “absolute terror.”
“It was honestly the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been through and probably will ever go through.
A half hour before, I’d been feeding my daughter.”
She ran and grabbed her daughter and her phone in another room to call 911. A cellphone video Parren took the next day shows at least 10 bullet holes, marked with evidence letters by police, in Mabel’s room. The closest was about a foot away from the crib.
Other holes mark walls in adjoining rooms.
She said Virginia Beach police told her that the intended target had been a neighbor’s car.
One officer told her “he hadn’t seen a drive-by shooting like this before,” according to Parren.
“It wasn’t a handgun. It was a rifle, and a pretty decently highpowered one,” she said.
Linda Kuehn, spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Police Department, confirmed officers got a call about shots fired in the 5000 block of Gunter Street at 1:08 a.m. There was damage to the home and a vehicle but no injuries, Kuehn said. Police are investigating.
Parren said she and her husband, who’s a sailor based at Naval Station Norfolk, have until September on their lease with Lincoln, but cannot live at the complex anymore.
“There’s bullet holes next to a baby’s crib. Our family is going through a traumatic experience,” she said. “This shouldn’t have happened in military housing.”
She added that the shooting is a final straw on top of multiple service requests over the past several years going unaddressed, regarding wasps and a creature living in the roof.
Brooke Scarbrough, a Lincoln Military Housing spokeswoman, said the residents notified the complex of the shooting Monday morning and while police are leading the investigation, “we are working diligently with them alongside our Navy Partner to ensure the impacted families are taken care of and supported.”
She said the complex has immediately increased its courtesy patrols and will work with Navy Fleet and Family services to make resources available for the community.
Complex officials added that they will not hold the Parrens or others who are victims of criminal activity financially responsible for the resulting damages. Lincoln plans to absorb the charges due to the couple’s lease change.