Until early Friday morning, Upton senior Sara Riggs felt safe in her own home. The last thing she expected to hear when she went to bed Thursday night was the sound of gunshots exploding next door.

Her feeling of safety has left completely after she discovered that her next door neighbor, DuJuan Holder, 29, had been shot and killed in his Lost Circle Drive apartment. His body was discovered by his roommate Matt Hagan.

Riggs and her roommate, Greenville senior Jennifer Dragoo, said that after the murder they don’t feel safe in their apartment.

DuJuan Holder’s apartment is part of Lost Woods Apartments, located off Nashville Road. The complex is across the street from Western Place Apartments. A number of Western students live in the area.

Both Dragoo and Riggs were home at the time of the shooting.

This is the first apparent homicide of the year in Warren County. There were two in 2001 and one in 2002. Bowling Green police said they have had no calls for violent crimes for the area in recent months.

Riggs said that after the murder she looks at life a lot differently.

“I am more alert now,” she said. “I am aware now that these kinds of things happen. Before, I didn’t think anything like this would happen around me.”

The roommates were so disturbed by the shooting that they weren’t comfortable staying in their apartment alone. Dragoo went home, and Riggs had her boyfriend stay with her for the weekend.

“Ever since this happened, it has made me think a lot,” Dragoo said. “This could happen anywhere. I took for granted that I was always safe.”

Riggs said they thought about moving out but decided to stick it out for the rest of the semester.

“I really like this apartment,” Riggs said.

Reach Abbey Brown at [email protected].