Shortly after 11:15 p.m. Monday night, officers responded to an incident at a local apartment complex on South Turners Run.
The call was for an eight-year-old girl suffering from a non-life threatening gunshot wound to the leg.
WPD determined that a gun fired off in a neighboring apartment, leading the bullet through a wall, and subsequently striking the child.
Further investigation into the incident revealed 20-year-old Jaquan Rouse-Moody as the owner of the firearm that was discharged in the nearby apartment.
Residents in that complex who spoke with WPD said they were told Rouse-Moody had been “messing around” with the firearm in the unit above the apartment that was shot into.
And the investigation lasted so long, they said, that they couldn’t get into their apartment until 1:00 a.m.
The child’s parent told WHQR that their son woke them up after the bullet pierced through the sheet rock of her daughter’s room and through her son’s closet.
“I seen blood coming from her. From her leg. And I went in her room, and it was like sheet rock on a bed and all over the dresser, and I looked in the walls, and I noticed the bullet hole," the parent told WHQR/
Greg Willett, a spokesperson for WPD, told WHQR that the bullet was fired out of Rouse-Moody’s AR-15 pistol — investigators also seized a Glock 17.
One neighbor living in the building said the complex is usually quiet and they hope to see more protective measures to ensure things like this don’t happen again.
“It's scary and it's not what I'm used to,” they said.
Rouse-Moody is facing multiple charges including Discharge of a Firearm in a Reckless Manner. He is currently being held without bond at the New Hanover County Detention Center.
As for the child, her parent said, “I thank God, my daughter's fine. It could have been worse than what it is.”
