SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio couple avoided tragedy by celebrating New Year's Eve away from home.
When Michelle and Albert Diaz, Jr. returned home Sunday, they made a startling discovery: A bullet hole at eye level.
This happened in the 2200 block of War Dance on the northwest side, near Holmes High School. Michelle says had their Wi-Fi not stopped working, they would have never known a crime had occurred.
Sunday, January 1, Albert began troubleshooting their broken Wi-Fi. He called the internet company, and was advised to follow the cable on the outside of the home. A representative said animals could have severed the line.
The damage Albert found wasn't made by an animal.
"He sees a hole. Our panel is broken," Michelle explained.
The couple put two and two together. The hole was on the other side of a shattered picture frame in their game room.
"We were kind of brushing it off, like maybe my nephews broke it and just didn't tell us," Michelle explained. "So [Albert] came inside and removed the frame and that's when he saw the bullet hole."
They called SAPD's non-emergency line. A dispatcher encouraged them to file a police report, so they did. An officer came to their home shortly after to investigate.
"[The officer] was like, 'Honestly, this was something that was shot in the air and came down and this is where it landed," said Michelle. "He asked us, 'What time did your Wi-Fi go out?' We have the app that tells us. It went out at 12:02 [a.m.]."
Tuesday, a homicide detective went to the Diaz's house. While the detective was taking pictures of the scene, he found three more bullet holes in the living room along with a bullet on the living room carpet.
"I started to get emotional because where we found it was right here on the carpet. We sit here to watch TV. If we had been home watching TV, who knows if it would have hit us," said Michelle, pointing to the carpet in front of the couch. "We have our dog here too. She lays here with us."
Police say this particular case of celebratory gunfire classifies as a discharge of a firearm, which is a class a misdemeanor.
However, in more serious cases, such as an incident in Corpus Christi New Year's Eve, consequences could be more severe.
As our sister station KIII reported, an 11-year-old girl was killed by celebratory gunfire.
"My baby said 'ouch'. When she said 'ouch' and fell to the ground, I knew already it was a bullet that hit her," her father told reporters at a vigil.
In the Corpus Christi case, two men are in jail facing charges of deadly conduct discharging a firearm, which could be upgraded.
Michelle explained how San Antonio Police may be able to find those responsible for shooting a bullet through her home. She says the detective told her if another crime is committed with the same type of bullet and gun, investigators can trace it to the owner and charge them with a crime.
She says she was told the bullet appeared to be from a .45 handgun.
The Diaz's were advised to look for additional bullets inside the home when they begin putting away Christmas decorations. Anything they discover, Michelle says, they will share with police.
"There are so many different ways this could have gone wrong. I thank God that we weren't here," said Michelle. "I would really like the community to be educated because I don't think people realize the dangers of shooting a gun in the air. It could be celebrating, and I understand that, but there's other ways to celebrate."