ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A bullet came through a woman’s bedroom wall from the apartment next door — and the neighbor who pulled the trigger from just feet away is now in big trouble.
“It was just like an explosion of pain,” said Debra Roybal.
Tuesday night, while asleep in her bed at the Theta Apartments, Debra Roybal was shot in her hand. “And all the sudden I just woke up, and I had the thought, move,” she said.
Just seconds before being shot, she said her head had been resting on her hand on the pillow. “I cried. I couldn’t stop crying just thinking that,” Roybal said.
Her son took video of the damage, showing just how powerful that bullet was. “Through the mirror in my room, through the wall, hit the ceiling in the living room,” Roybal said.
She said police thought it was from a gun she owned. “They asked us, where’s the gun? Where did you hide the gun? I’m like, there is no gun, there is no gun!”
The officers then realized the shot came from the neighboring apartment, where they found Michael Andrade inside.
“From what I understand, he told the police he was playing with his gun, he thought it was empty and pulled the trigger,” she said.
Roybal said she’s counting her lucky stars. “It could have been so much worse. I couldn’t be standing here today if I had not moved.”
She also said she forgives the shooter, “Because God saved me and I’m here for a reason.”
Police did mention in their report that Andrade smelled like alcohol. He’s now facing charges for aggravated assault and battery, and negligent use of a firearm.
A judge released Andrade from jail Thursday, citing his lack of criminal history. Roybal has set up a Go Fund Me to help her move out of her apartment and into another one where she’ll feel safer.
