DUMFRIES, Va. — Neighbors along Victoria Falls Drive in Dumfries are fed up. They say they constantly hear gunfire, but now things are getting out of hand.
On Saturday, Prince William County Police arrested two men, after three homes were struck by gunfire. All three of the properties back up to a heavily wooded area.
"We heard some shots in the background, which is normal. But, all of a sudden we heard a really loud shot and it sounded like it hit our house and I told my husband you need to call 911," said Katelyn Maertzig, who lives inside one of the homes.
She told WUSA9 that she and her family, including her two young children, were inside their home Saturday afternoon when the gunfire sounded way too close.
Maertzig says she eventually saw a hole in her pantry. Inside her pantry, another hole where the bullet entered her home. She told WUSA9 the bullet struck and broke a meat grinder before breaking apart. Part of it struck the wall, and the rest was found in a pot that was holding some utensils.
"My kids spend a lot of time going from the kitchen to the family room, getting water, getting snacks and that was right where they usually are," she said.
Her neighbors Cody and Meghan Farmer also told WUSA9 that a bullet struck their home.
"It came in from right here," said Cody Farmer, pointing to a window in their bathroom. "Immediately struck the mirror right where my wife would have been standing and then it impacted one of the studs behind the wall".
Luckily, his wife and kids weren't home at the time. They arrived at their home about 10 minutes after the shots were fired. They say Maertzig was the one who texted them that someone was shooting again and that it sounded like some of their homes were hit.
"It's scary," said Meghan Farmer, "the what could have happened."
Maertzig told WUSA9 it's not the first time her family has had a close call. On Aug. 4, she says her kids were playing on the back deck when her toddler made a disturbing discovery.
"We were just playing out here. I was getting food ready and my son walked up to me and said 'Mommy what's this?' and I looked down and there was a bullet in his hands," said Maertzig.
She said seeing that bullet in her then 2-year-old son's hands was terrifying.
"My 2-year-old came outside to play in the sand and picked up a bullet," she said.
Two men have since been arrested in connection to Saturday's incident.
Daniel Antonio Colato, 29, of Woodbridge, and Abdelkarim Q. Abuelhaija, of Brambleton, were charged with two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling. Police have not said why the two were shooting in the area or what led up to the shooting.
While their intentions aren't clear, what is clear is the emotional trauma this has caused.
"I just don't feel safe going into the kitchen, cooking the dinner doing dishes. I have in the back of my mind if I hear another shot is that gonna come in my house," said Maertzig.