Report: Off-duty Holly Hill police officer fired shot into apartment below him

Report states officer fired shot into apartment below him

Just above a bedroom for two brothers is an image no parent wants to see: a bullet hole ripping open the wall. An inch-long, high caliber bullet from a rifle was lodged in their floor, believed to have come from the apartment above where a Holly Hill police officer lives. 

HOLLY HILL, Fla. - A bullet flew through the ceiling of an apartment in Holly Hill Wednesday morning, leaving a family stunned. A child's bed was almost hit.

The father is angry but understanding. Nobody was injured, but it was a close call. Just a few inches over, and this would have been a very different story. 

Just above a bedroom for two brothers is an image no parent wants to see: a bullet hole ripping open the wall. 

"I didn’t know what it was. My wife actually thought a lightbulb had exploded or something. We hadn’t expected that." That's how Nickolas Smiley started his day, woken up by a bang just after 6:30 a.m. His wife was already awake and getting their three-year-old and 11-year-old sons ready for school.

"She started smelling what smelled like fireworks and I knew right away it was a gunshot round that had come through our ceiling," said Smiley.

An inch-long, high caliber bullet from a rifle was lodged in their floor, believed to have come from the apartment above where a Holly Hill police officer lives. 

According to a police report, the off-duty officer admitted to taking his rifle down from a wall in his apartment, tripping and accidentally pulling the trigger. The officer told his fellow officers he didn't think the bullet went through the floor and then asked if Nickolas Smiley and his family were okay.

No one was injured, but if the bullet had been just a few inches or feet over "I don’t want to think about that. Those thoughts have been running through my head all day, and it’s something I can’t live with right now," said Smiley. He hopes Holly Hill Police use this as an opportunity to offer more training to its officers.

"Accidents happen, and he’s out every day risking his life to protect us. I just hope that he learns from this mistake." 

The Holly Hill Police Chief says there are no criminal charges against the officer, but they are reviewing the incident for any policy violations. 

FOX 35 News knocked on the officer's apartment door, but he declined to comment.