Stray bullet strikes St. Paul man's pillow
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Members of the Black Ministerial Alliance, African American Leadership Council, and other leaders in St. Paul gathered Tuesday in support of another community servant traumatized by a reckless discharge of a weapon.
Robert McClain walked us upstairs to his bedroom, where a large-caliber bullet pierced the pillow on his bed.
"I came over here and I was fluffing the pillows up and I felt this little hole," McClain said. "When I pulled it down, part of the stuffing was sticking out. And I grabbed the stuffing, that's when I felt the projectile."
MORE: The battle to keep guns off Minnesota's streets
St. Paul police say the bullet came from a shooting a block and a half away.
"That's the side of the bed I sleep on, right there, right there. So if I was laying there, it would've been a done deal," he said.
Community leaders are calling on the community to take the lead in ending gun violence.
"Because we're the ones doing the majority of the shooting and the killing, so it's on our community, our leaders across the metro to say enough is enough," said Tyrone Terrell with the African American Leadership Council.
"I hope that we could seriously think about what we're doing in our own community," McClain said. "We keep talking about Black Lives Matter, and Black lives do matter, but it has to matter to Black people first."
MORE: Cost of gunfire: A personal look at the emotional and physical impact of gun violence
They've committed themselves to saving lives, and now they hope to partner with parents to get guns off the streets.
"That's the first thing, we need to start it at home first before it gets in the community," said community servant Callie Riser.
The African American Leadership Council and Ministerial Alliance are both willing to help parents remove guns from their homes if they do not want to call the police.
St. Paul police say they are investigating the shooting.