Stray bullets from ‘intoxicated target practice’ whizzed feet away from baby’s head

DELAND, Fla. — Salvador Sotelo said his wife had just finished changing their baby in the back bedroom when they heard gunfire, followed by an explosion of glass.

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Sotelo grabbed his child like a football, ushering the young family into a bathroom. He ordered his 7-year-old to lay flat in the tub as more shots could be heard.

Outside, holes and dents from two of the bullets in the volley marked the side of the family’s house. They were stray shots from the neighbor’s backyard, where deputies said an intoxicated man decided to practice his shooting at a narrow tree trunk.

“Either one of us could have got hit, if it was any lower,” Sotelo recalled. “The second shot went through the other bedroom and hit a beam. If that beam wasn’t there, it could have hit one of my brothers.”

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Volusia County deputies said Alex Kudlack, 38, is charged with multiple felonies, including shooting into a dwelling and child endangerment. They said he fired approximately one dozen rounds total. At least four of those bullets exited his backyard.

In a body camera video released by the agency, Kudlack could be heard admitting his involvement.

“I’m a dumbass,” he told deputies after being arrested.

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Sotelo said the five people home at the time were lucky no one was injured. He said gunfire was rare in the vicinity and usually confined to a dirt track up the road.

His mother, Heather Barlip, said she was relieved when she found out what was happening, even though she had some choice words for their neighbor.

“I was glad it wasn’t somebody just trying to target us,” she said. “If it was turned around, what would he feel?”

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