BERRY HILL, Tenn. (WTVF) — At least a dozen cars were broken into at a Berry Hill apartment complex as the surrounding area continues to see a rise in gun thefts from vehicles.
The number of guns stolen from automobiles in Davidson County this year totals 541 through the weekend, an 18% increase over the same time last year.
Alexa Petre, who has lived at her Berry Hill apartment for a year, discovered her car was among those targeted Tuesday night.
"I got a text saying there's been seven confirmed break-ins; if you're parked on...the bottom floor, go out there right now. And I was like, No, no way...not right now," Petre said.
When she went to check, her fears were confirmed.
"I go down there, and I just see, I mean, just glass everywhere on the first floor. And I was like, 'Oh my goodness!' So then I go to my car. Of course, there's no window. It's busted in," Petre said.
According to Petre, every vehicle parked on the lower level appeared to have been broken into or targeted in an attempted break-in.
"The weird thing is that none of us had anything taken," said Petre. "Just all of our glove apartments, everything was open, so you can only assume what they were looking for, which is scary."
She believes the suspects were specifically searching for firearms.
Metro Nashville Police has launched a new interactive dashboard that allows residents to see which neighborhoods, council districts, and zip codes are impacted by gun theft.
In Petre's 37204 zip code, five guns have been reported stolen so far this year — all five of those were taken from cars.
"I think that people need to be aware so that they don't leave valuables in the car. Because even though nothing is stolen, who knows? Someone could steal something," Petre said.
Petre is now requesting surveillance footage from her apartment complex in hopes of finding some form of justice.
This story was reported on-air by journalist Kelsey Gibbs and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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