INDIANAPOLIS — On New Year's Eve, James Gerholdt said he was ready to watch the ball drop. Instead, a bullet came flying through his bedroom wall right next to his family photos.
"Here's where the bullet came through. Right here," Gerholdt said as he showed a large bullet hole on his wall. "Here's where it hit the wall, and then it landed here on the bed."
Gerholdt said he usually sleeps in that same spot with his service dog at night.
The southeast side home wasn't the only one hit on New Year's Eve. Calls from around the city flooded 911.
"It just sounded like the backyard was a war zone," said Sandy Gerholdt, James' wife.
The couple said they heard about 50 shots right before midnight. At least two of those bullets hit the back of their house. One went all the way through the wall and the other got stuck in the siding.
"It sounded like a machine gun just went pow, pow, pow," James said. "Then all of a sudden something came past my ear. It sounded like a swoosh."
He said he was inches away from being hit.
"If I was standing over a few inches more, it would've probably gotten me in the back of my head," James said.
Sadly, it's a fear many families feel across the city.
Just last month, six homes near East 10th Street and North Hamilton Avenue were shot at on the east side.
Last week, an 8-year-old was hurt after someone shot into her home off Washington Street near North Sherman Drive.
Also, a mom came home last weekend to find a bullet next to her son's bed at Lake Castleton Apartments on the Northeast side.
"It's uncalled for. People need to have responsibility for their guns. They need to understand when a bullet goes up, it's going to come down. The problem with this bullet is it didn't go up, it went straight," James said.
The couple and their service dog are now sleeping in the living room. They say their next step is to move when they can.
"We've been here since 2005 and now we are too scared to be here," James said.
James filed a police report that night and is hoping to get answers soon from an investigator.