81-year-old woman injured when dozens of shots fired into New Castle home

NEW CASTLE, Del. (WPVI) -- A Delaware man says he is grateful he and his girlfriend are alive after gunfire erupted outside of their New Castle home early Tuesday, striking the 81-year-old woman as she slept.

Arthur Deramus, 76, said he and his girlfriend, Virginia Perkins, were in bed at their home on the unit block of Rose Lane around 2 a.m. when bullets began flying through the house.

"Them bullets was going everywhere," Deramus said.

He said roughly 16 bullets entered the home, and a total of 22 rounds were fired in the incident.

Deramus said he immediately hit the ground while Perkins remained in bed. She was struck in the hip and taken to a hospital, where she underwent surgery.

"She was sleeping on this side right here," Deramus said, pointing to where Perkins had been lying.

The gunfire also put other family members in danger. Deramus said his grandchildren had been at the home and that a bullet traveled through his room and struck his grandson's mattress.

Bullet holes could be seen throughout the home, including in walls, doors, mirrors and picture frames. One bullet struck a chair in the living room, while another went through a door. A vehicle parked outside was also struck.

New Castle County police said detectives are working to determine who fired the shots and why the home was targeted.

"Right now our detectives are thoroughly investigating this case, trying to determine why this home was struck, also who did this and why they did this," New Castle County police spokesman Cpl. Rusty Chambers said.

Chambers called the amount of gunfire "disturbing," noting that multiple homes were in the area where the shots were fired.

"This is a very scary situation," Chambers said. "The amount of rounds that were located after detectives went through the area is disturbing because there's multiple houses in there."

Deramus said he does not know why someone would target his home.

He said violence has occurred in the neighborhood before, including the shooting death of his nephew several years ago. But Deramus said the area had been quiet in recent years.

"We didn't have no problems out there, no shootings in a long time, about three to four years," he said.

As Perkins recovers in the hospital, Deramus said he is just grateful that they're alive.

"It could have been worse. I could have been killed. And she could have been killed," he said.

Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact New Castle County police.