SACRAMENTO-
A Del Paso Heights man was struck by a stray bullet after what sounded like a gun battle on Grand Avenue and May Street.
Clifford Long, 79, called 911 after feeling a burning sensation near his right hip after a bullet went through a wall into his upstairs apartment bedroom. His leg went numb for a while.
“I didn’t want to look because I was afraid of what I might see,” said Long.
Police still don’t know who fired as many as 15 shots at around 10 P.M. or who may have been involved. One neighbor believes it was an exchange of gunfire involving at least one vehicle. Another says she saw someone runaway on foot after the shots were fired.
The Grand Avenue Villa apartments are not stranger to gunfire. Bullet holes from a previous shooting can be seen on the side of the building where Long was struck. A car in the parking lot had two bullet holes in it, also from a separate incident.
Long said he was in bed when the bullet came through the wall, into his mattress and penetrated his bed sheet and bed cover as well as striking him.
He thought he was more seriously hurt after his leg went numb.
The area is no stranger t0 gunfire, drugs and violence. Across the street Morine Nelson said once a bullet went into her kitchen when she was washing dishes. A few years later, another bullet crashed into her bedroom as she slept.
Long, a retired federal worker, said he felt blessed and gave credit to God for not being hurt more seriously.
“I could have been in my hip all the way where I probably wouldn’t be walking again,” said Long.
Long said he still feels relatively safe and says he doesn’t plan to leave the apartment where he’s lived on and off for over 20 years.