BEXAR COUNTY – A Bexar County family said they are living in fear after gunfire struck their home while they were just feet away, including their 11-month-old daughter.
They believe a neighbor is to blame and say law enforcement hasn’t been able to help them.
Carlos Valadez, who lives in northwest Bexar County, says he, his fiancée, and their infant daughter were eating at their home Friday evening when shots rang out. Three bullets struck their property.
“It’s just one stray bullet, and it’s going to change my life forever; someone can literally get killed,” Valadez said.
Surveillance footage captured the sound of three distinct gunshots. The bullet’s damage now marks parts of Valadez’s property, just below where he says he often plays with his dogs and daughter.
Watch the surveillance video below:
Valadez believes the shooting is not random and believes it’s due to his neighbor’s annoyance with barking dogs.
Valadez recorded his confrontation with his neighbor.
“You need to control your dogs,” the neighbor is heard saying in a video.
“You need to control your [expletive] shooting. They’re dogs — they’re going to bark,” Valadez responds.
KSAT is not naming the neighbor, as he has not been charged by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
BCSO confirmed the neighbor told deputies he had been firing his gun to scare off raccoons. However, he said he never shot toward Valadez’s home or anyone else.
Valadez isn’t convinced. He said he made multiple reports to BCSO in the past three months, but little has changed.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to assume he’s shooting at the ground,’ but then I started seeing bullet holes in his fence,” Valadez said. “Now bullets are hitting my house.”
Valadez is questioning what more needs to happen before authorities take action.
“Until one of my dogs gets shot, my fiancée, I get shot, then it’s going to be a big deal,” he said.
KSAT has sent follow-up questions to the BCSO but has not received a response.
Valadez said he lives in constant fear of another shooting.
“Even when my dogs bark for two seconds, I freak out,” he said. “I try to avoid windows because I don’t know what bullet is going to come through.”
Attempts to reach the neighbor in question by phone were unsuccessful.