Bullet barely misses Rockland sleeping couple

ROCKLAND, Mass. (WHDH) -- It was a close call for a couple in Rockland when gunshots were fired into their bed. The gunshots came from a neighbor upstairs through the floor and just inches from where they were sleeping.

It was terrifying wake up call for Chelsea Pompeo and her boyfriend early last Saturday morning inside their Rockland apartment.

“I sat up like this and then second one came down and we both jumped out of bed and he started yelling,” Pompeo said.

Two bullets came within inches of their heads.

“I would have expected this in Afghanistan but I absolutely would have not expected this now that I come call this place home and finally comfortable here,” said Justin Sweezey.

They said their upstairs neighbor had opened fire on them. Police showed up and confronted the man.

The suspect told them “that there were small children stuck in the floor and that they were trying to break in and get him."

According to a police report, the suspect said that he needed help to get rid of the kids and that “the kids would come out at all hours of the day and night.”

When he was asked where they came from the suspect said “the floor, toilet and through the sink,” and he was in the process of, “lining the sink with nails to try to stop them from coming up."

Police recovered a loaded .22 caliber rifle and two shell casings in a garbage can.

The report says the suspect was taken the hospital for a mental health evaluation and, according to Pompeo, he was released.

He was later arraigned on a number of charges including two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.

The suspect has been ordered to stay away from the victims and his apartment.