Bullet Pierces South Loop Couple's Seventh-Floor Window While They're Fast Asleep
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The serenity of the weekend was shattered for a young couple in the South Loop this weekend – and it was utterly random.
As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reported, Rebecca and Nick Schiavo were told that a man got into a fight at a nearby bar – and then took out his frustration outside their high-rise apartment.
It was the dead of night outside 1001 S. State St. in the South Loop – about 1:50 a.m.
"I was dead asleep," said Rebecca Schiavo.
She was in bed alongside her husband, Nick, in their seventh-floor apartment when they were both jolted awake.
"And I heard this really loud crash, and we thought our cat had probably like knocked a glass over or something," Rebecca said.
But this was not the cat. It was a bullet that had just ripped through their window more than 70 feet above State Street.
"The hole is about here," Rebecca said as she pointed out the spot near the frame the window. "I mean, that could have been a really close call if we had been standing there."
But fortunately, Rebecca was not standing there because at 1:50 in the morning, she was lying down two feet away.
"I was here and I think I kind of sat up and, and then you (Nick) were kind of springing over the bed," she said.
That's because Nick Schiavo was thinking about what could come next.
"I kind of ran over to her and was like: 'Get back! Get back! Just lay in bed and stay down!' in case there was more shots," he said.
When Rebecca did look out, the police were already speeding down State Street.
"Which was crazy fast, by the way," Rebecca said.
It was so fast that police caught G. Elente Collins, 25, of Lisle at the scene.
Police then went up to the Schiavos' apartment.
"We had glass just kind of all over – on the cracks and on the sill and on the floor and everywhere, and we kind of had to leave that put until the police came and found the bullet," Nick said.
Collins was charged with felony reckless discharge of a firearm and misdemeanor criminal damage to property, police said. He could be locked up for more than a year if he's convicted.
Meanwhile, Rebecca's parents were also in the apartment when the bullet shattered their sense of security.
"My parents are like, 'You guys are moving,'" Rebecca said.
In a different sense of the word, Rebecca said she was moving involuntarily right after it happened.
"I was definitely shaking," she said.
And even though their window was the only one struck in a 40-story building, these two Michigan transplants are feeling fortunate.
"The hole is right around here, head level – which is kind of terrifying now that you think about it. And it's about a baseball sized hole," Nick said.
"And so it easily could have been one of us that got hit by it if we were standing in front of the windows," Rebecca said.
The Schiavos said they heard six or seven shots and all. Police took the bullet that pierced their window so they can match it to the weapon recovered at the scene.
