Arcadia nurse accused of shooting into neighbor’s apartment over piano noise in California
A registered nurse was arrested for allegedly firing several gunshots into her neighbor’s apartment over piano noise in Arcadia, California.
Pin Hsin Lin, who had been teaching piano lessons in her Sunset Boulevard apartment in Arcadia for nearly three years, was getting ready for a lesson when a bullet that was fired through her ceiling barely missed her.
Lin had initially heard loud bangs around noon on Aug. 1, which she assumed was her upstairs neighbor slamming doors. Lin realized the sounds were gunshots when the fourth loud noise came with a bullet through her ceiling, which struck a lamp on her piano.
“Suddenly, there’s a straight bullet,” Lin told ABC 7. “When I saw the hole, I was like, ‘This is a real gunshot!’ So I called police immediately.”
Lin also found another bullet hole in a cabinet in her kitchen. The bullet, which was fired while she was preparing food at noon, was stopped by a rice cooker on a top shelf. She believes her 39-year-old neighbor, Kathryn Pugh, was targeting her rather than aimlessly shooting through the floor.
Police said they found Pugh intoxicated and in possession of two legally registered guns in her apartment. She was arrested and charged with two counts of felony for discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling.
“We discovered she shot two rounds through a downstairs apartment unit,” Arcadia police Sgt. Ryan Mulhall reportedly said. “We found a bottle of tequila inside her house, and she was exhibiting signs and symptoms of being drunk.”
“It appears both the victim and suspect have an ongoing dispute over apartment-related issues,” police told Fox 11 in a statement. “It appears they were fired intentionally.”
Pugh, who moved in last year, had been complaining about the noise of her downstairs neighbor, according to Lin. Pugh is reportedly a Los Angeles registered nurse who was honored with a Daisy Award at Huntington Health in 2019. The award recognizes “excellence in clinical skills, caring and compassion.”
There were two more shots discovered through Pugh’s window and wall, according to the police. The bullets struck two other apartments, but there were no reported injuries.
Pugh’s bail was initially set at $250,000 before it was raised to $500,000. However, she was deemed a danger to the community by Judge Terry Lee Smerling, who then ordered her to be held without bail despite Pugh not having a criminal record.
“To us, that’s absolutely tragic,” Karla Sarabia, Pugh’s attorney, told ABC 7. “Conceivably until she goes to trial, so that could take months and in a serious case like this, maybe even longer. She’s going to lose her job, she’s going to lose her apartment, she’s going to lose her livelihood.”
“She has no priors, she’s a responsible person, she went to Berkeley, she got a scholarship, she got a 4.0 (grade point average),” Pugh’s mother Marie also told ABC 7. “She is one of the best people ever put on this Earth.”
Lin does not feel the same way. She believes Pugh will seek revenge if she returns to the apartment above her.
Pugh’s next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 16.
Featured Image via ABC 7 / @huntingtonnews
Share this Article
Share this Article
