Glasses deflect bullet, may have saved teen girl's life in shooting

Dec 23, 2013

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Police said glasses a 16-year-old girl was wearing may have spared serious and possibly fatal injuries in a Seattle drive-by shooting Saturday night.

The teen, Alonza Bryant, had fallen asleep on her couch and forgotten to take off her glasses.

"I heard a big bang and then my nose started bleeding," she said.

Bryant said she looked in the mirror and saw the bullet lodged in her forehead right above the bridge of her nose.

"I don't know why somebody did this to me," she said, "to our family-- shoot our house."

At the front of the house several bullet holes are visible in the side of the home. There's one bullet hole in the window.

Seattle police say someone living at the house is involved in gangs but that Bryant wasn't the intended victim.

"I just want whoever did this to come forward. You could have killed me. You could have killed my baby," said the teen's mother LaVette Bryant.

It's a close call that's almost unbelievable to neighbors.

"Must be a Christmas miracle," Doug Skoczek said.

While Alonza's mother is furious, she's also grateful.

"Glasses saved her life," she said. "I believe that... and I thank God for that."

Several people, including children, were in the home during the time of the shooting, but no one was hurt.

Police said the teen was not the intended victim and LaVette Bryant said no one in the family is involved with gangs.

Officers searched the area and found shell casings in the street, but could not locate a suspect vehicle.

The Seattle Police Department’s Gang Unit will continue the investigation.