Delaware man lucky to be alive after 15 gunshots hit his home: "They could have killed me"

Art DeRamus' nerves are still rattled after his Delaware home of 43 years was peppered with bullets in the middle of the night.

"Here's one bullet hole, here's one, here's one," DeRamus said as he pointed to the damage.

The 76-year-old says 15 shots flew into his bedroom and living room around 2 a.m. Monday.

"I hit the floor, and my girlfriend was still in bed and a bullet came through the wall and hit her," he said.

DeRamus said his girlfriend, 81-year-old Virginia Perkins, was sleeping in the front bedroom when she was shot above the buttocks. She was rushed to the hospital and was last listed in stable condition after undergoing surgery to remove the bullet fragments.

DeRamus said his young grandkids also spent the night, and another bullet narrowly missed his grandson.

"A bullet went through my wall and into the middle room and landed in my mattress of my grandson's bed," he said.

The shooting happened in the unit block of Rose Lane in the Rosegate community in New Castle County. A neighbor's car parked outside was also hit.

Police say Perkins was an innocent victim, and they believe there was likely more than one shooter.

Investigators are now reviewing surveillance video and collecting evidence in the neighborhood to piece everything together.

"We're still trying to determine what relation this person, this home, and this house had to do with this shooting," New Castle County Police Master Corporal Richard Chambers said.

Police said there has been some crime in the neighborhood in the past, but a shooting like this is unusual. No arrests have been made, and DeRamus wants to know why his home was hit and who is responsible.

"I'm glad that I'm still alive because they could have killed me, they could have killed my grandkids, and my girlfriend," DeRamus said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the New Castle County Police Department.