In the early morning hours of May 9, Amy Shay woke up from her sleep to hear and feel her house vibrating numerous times.
She likened the situation to a tornado or a severe thunderstorm, but as she learned over the course of that morning, she was involved in something more complicated than inclement weather.
“My son came up from his basement room to use the restroom and that scared me awake again,” Shay said. “The next thing I knew, there were police at my door, pounding and ringing the doorbell repeatedly. That was so scary ‒ I get it, they just wanted to make sure we were safe ‒ so we all got up, (but) we were so scared to even answer the door. I saw blue lights, so I was like, ‘OK, we’re safe.'”
The deputies were there because the loud, thunderstorm-like vibrations she felt came from a barrage of gunshots striking her home. Shay’s residence in the 2600 block of West Laura Avenue was one of two hit that morning by 41 gunshots, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
Her car was also damaged to the point where she wasn’t able to use it. The situation at her house, in a place she grew up in and called home, was jarring enough to make her look for a new home for her and her three children ‒ a place safer than where she is right now.
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Drive-by shooting changes everything
According to the Sheriff’s Office, shots were fired into homes at 2609 and 2611 West Laura ‒ the former representing Shay’s home. At least one vehicle was hit and multiple guns were used during the shooting, the Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
No injuries were reported, although Sheriff Chris Watkins did note that Peoria and West Peoria saw multiple instances of gunfire that night into the morning, with the shooting taking place at 1:58 a.m. He said that it was difficult to know what was related and what wasn’t.
Shay said that deputies informed her that her house was involved in a drive-by shooting. Her initial reaction was one of disappointment, having grown up in West Peoria.
“I got divorced and I wanted to move back to the neighborhood I grew up in,” Shay said. “There’s always been a place in my heart for this area.”
She was then informed that both her vehicle and house had been hit. They showed her bullet holes that pierced the walls of the house. She found the entire situation unnerving.
“It was paralyzing,” Shay said. “There was a bullet on my living room floor and they said, ‘You need to go down to the basement,’ where my son sleeps, ‘because there’s a hole through (your) window.'”
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Sure enough, when she went down to the lower level of the house, there was a bullet hole that blew through her laundry room and ended up above her son’s television. She’s found it difficult to process the possibility that had her son been awake a few moments earlier – attempting to use the bathroom – he may have been a victim of the shooting.
“It’s just terrifying,” Shay said.
For much of the morning, police came in and out of her home. One thing that she hasn’t been able to get yet is exactly why her house got shot. She was questioned by deputies in the hours following the shooting, but hasn’t heard much since from the Sheriff’s Office.
“(They’ve) never been back,” Shay said. “It’s funny – I said to my friend, ‘It’s so weird. That’s why I could never be a police officer. Every single situation, I’d be like, ‘Are you OK?” I’d want to come back every single day and take care of them.”
The impact on her family
Shay lives in her West Peoria home by herself, a decision she made shortly after the shooting as she tried to find a way to keep her family safe. For now, her three children – a 16-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl – live with her ex-husband in Pekin.
“We don’t really have a good relationship as it is,” Shay said. “Now, there’s lots of contention. I can go to Pekin, see my kids, take them out to dinner (and) do things with them, but they are not to stay with me until I find a safe place. I’m respecting that because I know they are struggling with that as well.”
The family’s trauma after this is something that Shay feels is shared quite equally. She’s had days where it can be difficult for her to really concentrate, as she pretty much had to reintegrate herself into normal life after the shooting.
“I can’t really put it into words,” Shay said. “There are days where it was really difficult to focus.”
All four have now been enrolled into therapy sessions, both individually and as a family.
“Everyone was affected in a different way,” Shay said.
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Replacing a car and a home
One big clue as to just how much the shooting would impact Shay came when she discovered that bullet holes had pierced her car. As she searched her vehicle, she saw more bullet holes at the front of the vehicle.
“There’s seven bullet holes in the front of my car,” Shay said. “I’m like, ‘That’s definitely in my engine.’ I go to start the car (and) it’s dead. My car is totaled.”
This is a problem, because she works as an assistant manager at the Lucca Grill in downtown Bloomington, a full 41.1 miles from her home. As of now, she doesn’t have a vehicle of her own to travel to the pizza place for her job. Her boss has thankfully stepped in to help out, providing her with a vehicle to drive her from West Peoria to Bloomington to ensure that she can make it to work on a daily basis.
More concerning is her housing situation. She doesn’t want to live in a home that got shot up, so she’s on the lookout for a place that will be safe both for her and her children. Most of her connections are either in the Peoria or Bloomington areas, but she would like to make something in Pekin or Mackinaw work if she can find one.
“The ideal (home) would be somewhere in Mackinaw, somewhere in the middle from Pekin to Bloomington where I’m close to my kids and it’s not such a hard travel,” Shay said. “(A) safe place is probably the most important thing – a three-bedroom, safe home.”
Grateful in many ways
Through it all, Shay is incredibly grateful that her children weren’t harmed. She’s terrified to think of what could have happened if they were awake at the time – mere seconds away from serious injury or death.
“Not one thing of importance in my home got ruined,” Shay said. “It all perfectly didn’t hit anyone or anything of importance. It feels like we were all exactly where we were at that moment. Otherwise, one of us would have gotten shot, at least.”
She’s also grateful for the overwhelming amount of support that she has received in the days and weeks after the shooting. A GoFundMe page set up by a friend quickly surpassed the $5,000 goal set up for covering rent, getting a replacement vehicle and helping with a potential relocation. While she’s at her job, she’s heard from people willing to provide an extra boost to help her during this time of need.
“I’ll have random customers that I’ve waited on for years offer me things, hand me a large tip or hug me and say they’re there for me and (that) they love me,” Shay said. “It’s overwhelming and I can only say that I’m forever indebted to those people. I’m so lucky that I do know people that do this kind of thing.”
Shay said she feels a bit guilty for taking all of this aid, feeling somewhat undeserving of everything that has been offered. But she’s been able to convince herself of her and her family’s worthiness and feels that she wouldn’t be able to go forward without it.
“I would never be able to carry on if I didn’t have these people in my life,” Shay said.
She also carries with her a deep sense of confusion as to why her home was the one that got shot up. She feels that what happened was nonsensical – she didn’t notice anything wrong beforehand and didn’t feel as if she was a target – and doesn’t want anyone to become a victim in this kind of manner.
“There’s no reason that that should happen to anyone,” Shay said.
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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: West Peoria family traumatized after house and car hit with gunfire
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