On Friday, June 23, Kayla George said she was in her kitchen when she heard gunshots and yelled for her son to duck.
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"Five or six of (gunshots)," George said. "I ran into the living room and told him to get down and lay flat. He didn't understand what was going on. Then I heard the glass shatter, and that's typically not what I hear."
George checked the windows, but it wasn't until she discovered a bullet hole in her son's bedroom window the next day.
"You can't even be home safely anymore," George said.
She said she called the police using the non-emergency line, but days later, and police still had yet to show up.
"They told us the next available officer would be there," George said. Hours go by, and eventually, I see they are not coming."
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According to Houston police crime reporting data over the weekend, nothing indicates a report was filed. ABC13 reached out to Houston police to find out whether officers tried to respond and, if not, why?
Houston Police chose not to respond.
While Chief Troy Finner and Mayor Sylvester Turner have been touting a decrease in citywide crime, George wonders how many other calls have gone unreported.
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"There is no way crime is down if your officers aren't coming out to make those reports," George said.
George and her son live on Cleburne Street in the Third Ward, and she's seen her fair share of crime.
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"There's always something happening, people arguing, and you'll end up hearing gunshots in the middle of the night for the most part," George said
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According to our ABC13 Neighborhood Safety Tracker,the Third Ward and its surrounding areas are among our city's most violent. The murder rate last year was more than five times the citywide rate. The assault rate is about twice the citywide rate.
Feeling ignored and helpless, George says she's saving up to move her family.
"Crime is going to happen, but it's the other half. They aren't trying to stop it, and they aren't trying to help you," George said. "Just know, you've lost, I think, a decent person in the Third Ward because as soon as I can leave, I am out."
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