ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Pete Police are investigating two overnight shootings that injured two people who were asleep in their homes.
Police say they're looking into if the shootings are related but say they don't appear to be based on preliminary information.
According to authorities, the first victim is an 11-year-old boy who was shot in the foot. Police say that shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. in the 2300 block of 7th Street South.
It appears someone fired shots somewhere outside the house and the stray bullet came inside and hit the boy, police say.
Robert Creed told us about two hours after lying down, his significant other woke him up in a panic.
"She was hysterical, screaming. I'm trying to calm her down, figure out what's going on," Creed said.
Creed says his stepson didn't know he'd been shot at first.
"He felt the shock, like something shocked him. Then he said it was a shot," Creed said. "It's a bullet hole in the door, right where he lay at."
Creed said while his stepson was sleeping, he had his leg out and it could've saved his life. He said a .40 caliber bullet hit him in his leg and toe, went through the exterior wall, through an interior wall and almost went through his bedroom in the back. Creed showed an ABC Action News crew a table he believes deflected the bullet from going all the way through the house.
At the time of our interview, Creed told us the 11-year-old was getting prepped for surgery.
The second shooting happened around 1:40 a.m. in the 1300 block of 21st Street South. Police say in that shooting a 43-year-old woman was shot in the lower leg.
Police say, in that shooting, it also appears the shots were fired somewhere outside in the roadway and the stray bullet came into the home.
When an ABC Action News crew knocked on the door, the woman's husband told us she was OK and back at home sleeping.
"It's almost like a targeting and they're obviously they're missing their targets," Father Stephan Brown with St. Joseph's Catholic Church said.
Father Brown's church is less than a mile away from that second shooting. He's also a part of "Not My Son," a St. Pete organization hoping to end the senseless gun violence in the city. With school ending in three more weeks, Father Brown is worried shootings like this could increase.
"We need to begin giving tools to young people, to find other ways to deal with anger, other ways to deal with frustration," Father Brown said.
Father Brown plans to hold weekly events at his church, hoping to keep kids and teenagers supervised and busy with positive activities.
Neither of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries.
Detectives are actively working on these cases and urge anyone with information to call St. Petersburg Police 727-893-7711 or text SPPD plus your tip, to TIP411.
