Family shaken after bullet strikes daughter’s bedroom

CHESTER COUNTY, Tenn. — In Chester County, a family was having lunch around 1 p.m. Wednesday when they heard a loud noise.

The family thought a large item had fallen in one of the rooms, but when Lauren Balius looked into her youngest daughters bedroom, she was shocked at what she discovered.

“To my surprise when I entered my youngest daughter’s room, there was a gaping hole in her wall,” Balius said. “There was debris all over her floor, on her furniture, there were wood splinters, drywall pieces, and even flecks of paint that was just shredded.”

Arielle Balius was grateful to not be in her room when the stray bullet was fired.

“I wasn’t really worried until we found it, and then I was glad that I wasn’t in my room,” Balius said.

Chester County authorities went to other homes nearby asking questions. There were no other homes struck, and as of now, they do not know who fired the gun, but that there were no signs of danger.

“They were able to determine that we were indeed safe and the neighborhood was safe,” Balius said. “They knocked on all of the doors, which is very thorough, to make sure nothing else had happened to any other families.”

The bullet ended up being found and law enforcement were able to identify the gun.

“We were able to finally locate it, and it was lodged in the comforter,” Balius said. “It had not penetrated deep into her mattress, but they were able to retrieve the bullet and determine it was from a long-range hunting rifle.”

The sheriff’s office says that the investigation is still ongoing.

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