GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County mother says she hid her two young children behind a couch while a neighbor fired into three homes along Norris Lake, and she believes they were targeted for renting.
Police arrested 47-year-old Christopher Pellow on Thursday after they say he fired three long guns from his home on Lake Drive near Snellville.
Hannah Hairston had just fed her 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter breakfast when rounds came through the roof around 8 a.m. She thought it was a nail gun until she looked out her son’s window.
“I saw a scope from the top of his balcony and I could see him smiling down,” Hairston said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Ex-Georgia city clerk admits using taxpayer money on Amazon orders, dog treats, designer clothes
- Georgia elementary school student caught with gun in backpack on first day of class
- ‘Still in shock’: Georgia school district heartbroken after teen dies unexpectedly
She got both kids onto the couch and stayed on the phone with a dispatcher. Her son is nonverbal and has autism and epilepsy. A round blew open the water heater’s expansion tank and flooded the tile floor.
“We were just slipping and sliding, trying to stay in one spot so nobody would get hit,” she said.
Bullet holes remain above her son’s bed. Her truck and a Make-A-Wish camper he got in June were also hit.
SWAT surrounded Pellow’s house before he surrendered.
Police have not released a motive. Hairston says she never met Pellow, but her neighbors had heard him talking about her family.
“He has made claims to neighbors that he could pick us out one by one in our yard from his balcony and that we don’t belong here. He (said he) can’t sell his home because of renters. And we are the only renters on the street right here,” Hairston said.
Jail records show Pellow faces 18 charges, including five counts of aggravated assault and two of cruelty to children. No bond is set on the 16 felonies.
“I’m so thankful my babies are OK. I’m so thankful that they were able to get him to surrender without having to end anybody’s life,” Hairston said.
Neighbors have set up a GoFundMe for the family.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]