Home of Christopher 2X family hit by gunfire

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Gunfire riddled several houses in the Smoketown neighborhood over the weekend, and this time, the violence hit very close to home for one prominent anti-violence activist.

The daughter and grandchildren of activist Christopher 2X were inside one of homes hit by the hail of bullets.

2X told WDRB News he got the phone call on Saturday at around 3 p.m. It's the kind of call he takes often, but this time, the voice on the other end was his own daughter, Heaven.

“Daddy, Daddy, with a lot of crying connected to it,” 2X recounted. “And then she said, ‘Somebody had sprayed up the building.’”

The bullet holes are still clearly visible. On Saturday afternoon, someone opened fire on a townhome complex near Lampton and Camp Edwards Streets in Smoketown.

“She heard the first shot come through the kitchen,” 2X said. “And luckily, that was the shot that alerted her that she had to go into action.”

Heaven, whom 2X said is a child development specialist, was inside with six children ranging in age from one to seven.

Four of them were 2X's grandchildren, including three who appear on a flyer for a childhood education program.

“She quickly grabbed the children, pulled them to the floor and got under the bed, kind of, when the other volley of shots starts happening,” 2X said.

The bullets ripped through the walls and shattered the glass in an oven. Shell casings from a large caliber weapon still littered the ground on Monday.

“I credit it to her quick thinking to really save them,” 2X said.

Although no one was hurt, 2X said they have joined the ranks of what he calls the “invisible children” who live with the sound of gunfire.

“The traumatic impact on them is horrific in my opinion, and that's been going on far too long," he said.

2X said his daughter and the children have moved, at least temporarily. But he knows not everyone has that option.

“Because they have no ways and means to move on,” he said. “And that's sad.”

LMPD has provided no new information about the shooting spree.

A spokesman was scheduled to speak to WDRB News, but he had to call the interview off after he was dispatched to the scene of an unrelated Monday afternoon homicide.