ST. LOUIS — Early Monday morning, a couple got a wake-up call that they weren’t expecting when a bullet came flying into their hotel room in downtown St. Louis.
They were staying at the Pear Tree Inn across from CityPark after the game Sunday night when a bullet pierced through their ninth-floor window.
Debbie and Bart Andert are big CITY SC fans and made a whole night out of the very first playoff game.
“We come down early, we got down here at like 3 p.m. We went to the pep rally, we did the whole bit and then went to the game, then came back. But yeah, we've stayed at this place every single game,” Debbie said.
She said they were startled awake by a very loud noise.
“There's a loud boom. Like, just super loud. Woke me up. Woke my husband up. You're in a hotel. You're kind of like you sit up. I was like, 'What the heck was that?'” Debbie said.
Thinking nothing of it, Debbie went back to sleep only to wake up again hours later to another surprise: bullet fragments on her bed.
“So then I pulled back the curtain, bullet perfectly shattered the window. So then I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' So a bullet went through our window into the wall right above where I was sleeping,” Debbie said.
Her husband Bart said moments after the loud bang he adjusted the thermostat just inches from where the bullet hit.
“It shattered inside and put glass all over the floor and cut up the curtain,” Bart said.
And give or take a few minutes either one of them could have been hit.
“They finally told us that it ricocheted off the ceiling (and) went into the wall. Who knows where that could ricochet to or what? So it's very scary. Very scary,” Bart said.
Despite what happened, the Anderts said it's not going to keep them away.
“I did feel safe. I mean you have to have a key to get in. But it wasn't inside. It was out here. And like I said, you can't control what's on the streets, unfortunately,” Debbie said.
St. Louis police said they are investigating and analyzing ballistic evidence they recovered from the hotel room but did not provide any details about what may have happened outside.
The Pear Tree Inn declined to comment.