Tenants question safety after gun shot

Tenants cannot typically count on getting out of their lease if a crime is committed at their apartment.

But one resident of The Village apartment complex in Savoy is the exception to the rule.

Jacqueline Gest, graduate student, said The Village allowed her to terminate her lease on the apartment after she awoke to the sound of a bullet shot through her glass patio door early Saturday.

Lt. Ed Ogle of the Champaign County Sheriff's Department said the department responded first to the call. He said the witnesses heard a loud sound and discovered that glass was shattered. He said the police are still looking for suspects.

"We're just wanting to know if anyone had any information that they would be willing to pass along to us, so we can follow up on some leads," Ogle said. "The neighbors, if they have any information, they need to call us."

Gest said she was glad an exception was made to let her out of a signed contract, considering the circumstances.

"They were not legally bound to do it and that shows that they actually cared about my situation," Gest said. "I am extremely pleased with what they did for me."

Esther Patt, director of the Tenant Union, said a criminal act is not necessarily the fault of a landlord, and therefore, does not guarantee a lease termination.

"The fact that a crime occurred doesn't necessarily mean that a place is unsafe," she said. "But students should consider things like that when they're shopping (for housing)."

Sarah Dowling, graduate student and friend of Gest, said the shot went through a sliding-glass door and hit Gest's bedroom wall, about two feet from where Gest sleeps.

"Very easily, if the bullet had been a little bit higher and over more, it would've been her and not the wall," she said.

Dowling said the blast might have come from someone shooting at rabbits outside the complex, but added that it was nothing more than speculation.

"We don't know the circumstances," she said.

Marcia Dietiker, community manager for The Village, said the company repaired the damage done to the tenant's apartment.

"We've taken care of her needs, made sure everything was okay with her apartment," Dietiker said.

She said she was told by police that the gun was discharged off-site.

"I would assume that they're (the police) treating this as any other investigation," Dietiker said.

Dowling said while police told her it was an isolated case, Gest was uneasy about living where the incident took place.

"She didn't really feel comfortable there anymore," Dowling said. "She would remember that she could have almost died."