Loudoun County homes being struck by gunfire during target shooting, officials say

Eight homes in Loudoun County have been struck by gunfire in the last six months and law enforcement believe target shooting is to blame.

Thankfully, no one has been injured but the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is hoping education on gun safety and gun laws will stop the incidents before someone gets hurt.

One of the incidents happened in the Aldie neighborhood back in October and has left residents in the new home development rattled.

"It was pretty close, but hopefully it was just an isolated incident," said Lee Stoermer, who lives next door to where bullets struck his neighbor's home. "One of my neighbors said that she was sitting inside the house and heard it when they struck the side of the house."

The sheriff's office said there have been five separate stray bullet scares since May in Leesburg, Purcellville, Aldie and Lovettsville, and they all appear to be unrelated.

On Tuesday, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 to study more gun regulations including expanding the area of the county where shooting is prohibited.