Louisville woman says pillow saved her from stray bullet

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville woman said a pillow saved her life when gun fire erupted outside her bedroom window near South 18th Street and Esquire Alley in the Russell neighborhood.

Karen Bailey said she was sleeping Monday night when she heard gun shots fired outside her bedroom window. The Louisville grandmother said it's not uncommon to hear gunfire, but Monday night, it got too close.

"I was like, 'Oh Lord somebody got shot!'" Bailey said. "That's what I'm thinking. Wasn't thinking it had hit my house."

Then she discovered a bullet had gone through the wall and lodged into the pillow she'd been sleeping on.

"This pillow saved my life," Bailey said. "This pillow saved my life."

The Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area of Shorty's Food Mart nearby. Officers were unable to find anything,= but are investigating.

Bailey struggles with what might have been if the pillow hadn't stopped the stray bullet.

"How close can you get to death?" she said. "I could have been dead. My kids would have no mother."

In addition to record fatal and non-fatal shootings, community activist Christopher 2x said Louisville's seen an uptick in stray bullet shootings as well.

"Nobody should underestimate the power of being almost hit by a bullet and what it does to you psychologically," he said.

His organization, Game Changers, has even used their resources to put people victimized by stray bullets in hotels. Now, he's hoping to go in front of Metro Council to increase resources for those impacted.

"For far too long, survivors and their children have not had any resources to move or get out of harms way, and it's wrong," he said. "We call this a public health crisis. We should treat it as such and try to help these individuals when they get impacted by these stray shootings."

Bailey isn't willing to wait. She's ready to move out of the neighborhood she's called home for 20 years.

"I'm just scared. I'm terrified," she said. "I don't care if I have to live with people at this point, because I'm scared. I'm scared."