TAMARAC, FLA. (WSVN) - A Tamarac woman is reeling days after, she said, a stray bullet cut through her walls and narrowly missed her head as she slept.
Speaking with 7News on Tuesday, Joy Filkoff said the close call left her rattled.
“It sailed through these walls like butter,” she said. “It was Sunday morning.”
The resident said she and her Chihuahua, Mini, were asleep in her bedroom.
“I was in bed. Mini was in her bed,” she said.
Filkoff said a single shot flew through the window, walls, closet and kitchen inside her apartment unit along the 8100 block of McNab Road.
“Noises obviously woke me up. I had no idea what it was,” she said.
But Filkoff said the unfamiliar racket wasn’t enough to stop her from enjoying more Sunday morning sleep.
“I grabbed [Mini], got back into bed, so we’re back in bed like this,” she said.
But Filkoff didn’t quite manage to go back to sleep.
“Now, those are sounds I’ve never heard before, and I thought, ‘Was that a gunshot? No, it wasnt,'” she said.
In the end, she said, she drifted back to sleep.
But Filkoff awoke to yet another surprise.
“I walked through this hallway, and I was stepping on glass,” she said.
The glass, Filkoff said, came from a framed set of old family pictures, one of which now sports a bullet hole right between Filkoff and her sister.
Moments later, Filkoff spotted the bullet casing on the floor.
“This is what stopped the bullet,” she said as she pointed to a wall.
Filkoff then went into ballistics mode and called authorities.
Some time later, Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies were in her kitchen investigating.
BSO officials said they received several shots fired calls nearby, just before 6:30 a.m.
Deputies canvassed the area, but they didn’t see anything or arrest anyone.
An hour and a half later, they got Filkoff’s call.
Just how far did that stray bullet travel? It entered her bedroom window, flew across her room, into the wall and above the bed where Filkoff slept. It then went into a closet wall and through another closet wall before going into the bathroom, across the hallway, into the kitchen and up against her refrigerator. It then bounced off the wall and onto the ground.
As for Filkoff, she considers herself to be very fortunate.
“I’ve known for a long time I’ve had a protective angel,” she said.
Detectives with BSO’s Violent Crimes Unit believe the shot may have come from a nearby golf course but are not certain, as they continue to investigate.
If you have any information that could help detectives, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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