Mother recalls close call when bullet strikes near infant's crib in west Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A few minutes and a few feet separated Maria Moreno's family from potential tragedy.

Around 3pm Tuesday afternoon, someone started shooting outside their west Houston apartment. "My daughter called me. And she was crying and she told me 'mom there was a shootout outside. Somebody's shooting.' There was a bullet that went right through the wall to the baby's crib," Moreno said.

Her daughter said her 10-month old son had been napping in the crib, until her daughters woke him up about 15 minutes before the shooting. Parental anger turned to relief when it was noticeable that the bullet went through the crib where the infant's head had just been.

"My granddaughter was laying on the bed. Actually, she was the only one in the room when it happened. She could've been hit too," Moreno explained.

Houston police says nobody was hit by the bullet, and the suspects ran off before officers got there. Moreno says she worries about the neighborhood's safety.

In May, hours after a two-alarm fire destroyed a building in their complex, a man was shot and killed by his ex-girlfriend. Fast-forward to Tuesday's close call, and Moreno says she's not waiting around for a third strike.

"I don't want to wake up one day and find one of the children dead. I'm not going to give an opportunity for that to happen."

They're staying with family temporarily, and hope to move out before the end of their lease in October. In the meantime, Moreno says she'd like to see more security.