Katherine Martinez says a shooting outside her apartment resulted in her apartment flooding after a bullet hit her sprinkler system.
ATLANTA — Katherine Martinez has lived in her apartment for 16 years. Over that time, she’s built a life and collected memories—many of which were destroyed last week when her apartment suddenly flooded on Thursday, June 26.
“So, it started opening up as I was running out,” she recalled, describing the moment water was pouring from her ceiling.
At first, Martinez thought it was just a summer storm.
“However long, it was like 10 seconds of ‘pop, pop, pop, pop’ and then ‘shhhhhhh.’ And that was it, so why wouldn’t I think it was lightning and rain,” she said.
But it wasn’t rain—or lightning. It was gunfire.
Martinez says seven bullets flew through her living room, and one of them struck the apartment’s sprinkler system, triggering it to burst and drench her belongings.
“All the damage here, then my DJ board and equipment, it wasn’t sealed properly because this was supposed to protect it from water, but it wasn’t closed all the way. My lap was on here, yup, yup. The mold is already freaking starting,” she explained.
Martinez estimates she’s lost more than $15,000 worth of property. And she doesn’t have renters insurance.
“Some people are going to say, listen, why wouldn’t you have renters insurance? It’s $20 bucks a month, now you’re out $15,000, so why wouldn’t you have renters insurance when you’ve lived here for 16 years?,” 11Alive’s Chase Houle asked Martinez.
“You’re right because I let it lapse,” she responded. “I didn’t feel that it was important. You feel like you’re invincible. You’re like, oh, it’s not going to happen to me. I’m good. And then you’re moving around and then it’s like, ‘oh, I’ll take care of that later.’ And boom. Look what happens later.”
Chase did asked Martinez if the apartment complex, Centennial Place, requires tenants to have rental insurance and she told him it does not.
As for why someone would open fire into her apartment, Martinez says she has no idea.
“Who wants to take out a DJ? What did I play a bad track or something?” she said.
For now, she’s staying in a temporary unit at the same apartment complex while she tries to recover from the flood—and the unexpected gunfire that caused it.
We also reached out to Atlanta Metro Police about their investigation into the drive-by shooting but have not heard back, as it’s the Fourth of July.
Since the flooding, Martinez has set up a GoFundMe which you can access here.
Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.