MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Kevin English and his family live across the street from Richmond Heights Middle School in southwest Miami-Dade.
It’s not an area where he would expect to see his home shot up on a Thursday evening.
“We’re from Chicago,” said English. “We moved from Chicago so we wouldn’t have to deal with things of this nature. We’ve got two kids who live in this home.”
He said the proximity to the school is a big reason why he chose to rent there as being steps away from a school should be a safe place to raise a family.
English believes the shooting stemmed from an altercation earlier that day, when someone, possibly a parent of a student, parked in English’s driveway.
He asked her to move her car.
“The lady started to threaten us,” English explained. “She pulled right here and said this is not our property. You had the Miami-Dade Schools police officer to mediate the situation at that time, and then eight o’clock at night they came and they shot.”
The damage from the bullets could be seen both inside and outside the home.
“We could’ve died that night,” English said. “One of our Teslas got hit, they did all this stuff to the house.”
A 13-year-old and a baby are among those who live at English’s home.
“We could’ve died that night,” he said. “A bullet went straight through. I was lying in bed. The bullet went right over my head.”
English said he filed a police report. Officers arrived and collected bullets and other evidence from the shooting.
“I wish they find out exactly who did it,” he said.
English said reforms to school pickup could curb tempers from flaring in the first place.
“Just send out a viral email to all these parents -- just say, ‘Hey, start picking your kids up on the side of the school or start a long line and you just pick up your kids,’” he said.
The Miami-Dade Public School District said Miami-Dade police is handling the investigation and that it did not take place on school grounds.
The district wouldn’t comment on any possible connection to the school pick-up process.
Meanwhile, the English family has started a GoFundMe page as they are trying to get out of their lease and move somewhere else, and it can be found by clicking here.