Kim Parkes says a bullet came through the outer wall of their Eastview home before ricocheting up into their bedroom window in the early morning hours of Aug. 22. (Supplied)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

shaken to the core

Stray bullet scars family living in Eastview neighbourhood

Aug 31, 2019 | 6:00 PM

A family in Red Deer’s Eastview neighbourhood is looking to get out after a scary incident involving a stray bullet.

It was about 3:30 a.m. on August 22 — Kim Parkes and her husband asleep in bed — when a bullet ripped through the outer wall of their home near 37 Avenue and 39 Street.

Parkes says it missed their heads by inches before ricocheting upward and getting lodged in their bedroom window.

Red Deer RCMP have since told rdnewsNOW that they don’t believe the incident was targeted, at least not at this particular home. Parkes says that’s good in some sense, but admits it doesn’t really make them feel all that better about the situation.

“We don’t sleep in our bedroom anymore, and we actually don’t sleep upstairs at all. My kids also don’t sleep in their rooms,” she says. “It’s still hard to believe it even happened because it’s something you hear about in the news in the big cities, or in the States, or the movies, and you don’t honestly ever think it can happen to you. I’m terrified, and I’m angry at the fact that whoever did it, they’ll probably never find them.”

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Having lived in Ontario previously, and in central Alberta for the last five years, including more than four of those in Red Deer, Parkes believes there needs to be stronger gun control.

Kim Parkes says a bullet came through the outer wall of their Eastview home before ricocheting up into their bedroom window in the early morning hours of Aug. 22. (Supplied)

“I’ve always been firm that there are too many guns out there. I get it, people hunt and they do their thing, but there are way too many illegal guns out there,” she says.

“This is a prime example that almost killed somebody and whoever did it is going to get away with it. I just wish more could be done to stop something like this from happening, guns being in the hands of these types of people. It’s going to keep happening and it’s eventually going to hit somebody.”

RCMP couldn’t confirm to rdnewsNOW the type of bullet at this point in the investigation, but they are investigating. Red Deer detachment is also taking the opportunity to remind citizens to register their surveillance cameras with the new Capture program.

Meantime, despite their relatively positive experience living in Eastview, the family will continue to try to move on from the incident that has, “shaken us to our core.”

“It’s going to remain unsolved,” says Parkes. “And we’re stuck living with this for the rest of our lives.”

If you have information about this incident, contact Red Deer RCMP at 403-343-5575, your local police, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.