RUSKIN, Fla. (WFLA) – A Ruskin couple fears for their safety inside their own home. They say gunfire is putting their lives in danger.
For the most part, the Riverside Boating and Golf Club is quiet and peaceful. But random gunfire has many homeowners ready to run for cover.
Chris and Steve Fusco say their home is a danger zone.
“Definitely at least once a week, we hear gunshots,” Steve said.
“That’d be a heck of thing to have tell your kid. ‘I got shot in my house!'” he said half-jokingly.
Evidence of the problem is a 9mm casing fired from the neighborhood behind them.
In photos, you can see where it first tore through the exterior wall above a dresser. Up close, you can see the hole left behind is about the size of a dime.
Once it pierced the wall, the bullet flew over the bed, through a standing mirror and into the drywall behind it.
Reason enough, the Fuscos say, to cancel a visit from their family.
“We texted them and said, ‘don’t come because we’re frightened.'”
Chris told News Channel 8, “If one of them would had been in that room, they would have been shot.”
Chris said this is certainly not a case of random celebratory gunfire in their rural area.
“We had one Saturday where we had the sheriffs out three times.”
“People that have been living out there for a long time are still in the practice of shooting firearms,” said Cpl. Larry McKinnon with the Hillsborough sheriff’s office.
That’s why Hillsborough deputies continue to educate and remind as many residents as possible about the dangers of firearms.
Chris and Steve Fusco say this isn’t exactly the way they imagined their retirement here in Florida. Both say they love their community and don’t want to move, however, “If they’re hitting our homes, that’s over the line.”
The sheriff’s office says if you’re caught shooting a gun into someone’s home, you’re subject to arrest.
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