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Glasses may have saved teen in drive-by shooting

By Linzi Sheldon, KIRO 7 News
By Linzi Sheldon, KIRO 7 News
Police said glasses a 16-year-old girl was wearing may have spared serious and possibly fatal injuries in a Rainier Beach drive-by shooting Saturday night.

SEATTLE — The shooting happened at about 9:45 p.m. at 54th Avenue South and South Roxbury Street.

The teen, Alonza Bryant, had fallen asleep on her couch and forgotten to take off her glasses.
"I heard a big bang and then my nose started bleeding," she said.
Bryant said she looked in the mirror and saw the bullet lodged in her forehead right above the bridge of her nose.
"I don't know why somebody did this to me," she said, "to our family-- shoot our house."
At the front of the house facing South Roxbury Street, several bullet holes are visible in the side of the home. There's one bullet hole in the window.
Seattle police say someone living at the house is involved in gangs but that Bryant wasn't the intended victim.
"Is anyone living at the house involved in a gang?" KIRO 7 asked her mother, LaVette Bryant.
"No. We are not-- no, not at all," she said. "I just want whoever did this to come forward. You could have killed me. You could have killed my baby."
It's a close call that's almost unbelievable to neighbors.
"Must be a Christmas miracle," Doug Skoczek said.
While Alonza's mother is furious, she's also grateful.
"Glasses saved her life," she said. "I believe that... and I thank God for that."

Several people, including children, were in the home during the time of the shooting, but no one was hurt.

Police said the teen was not the intended victim.

Officers searched the area and found shell casings in the street, but could not locate a suspect vehicle.

The Seattle Police Department’s Gang Unit will continue the investigation.

KIRO

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