A stray bullet from New Year’s Eve celebratory gunfire struck an 87-year-old woman in Philadelphia.
Mary Gallagher was ringing a bell on her front stoop to ring in the new year just after midnight when a bullet struck her, according to ABC 6.
“They are stupid. I’m sorry,” Mary Gallagher said of the person who fired the shot. https://t.co/J2fqIjOFqc
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) January 3, 2023
“Felt like I got hit with a brick or something. It was really, oh, it was a heavy thump,” Gallagher said, according to ABC 6.
Gallagher went inside to check on her shoulder. When she took off her sweater, a bullet fell out, reported the outlet.
“I bent down because I was crying and going bananas,” Gallagher said, according to ABC 6. “And I seen the yellow thing on the floor and I picked it up and I looked at it, and then I really went bananas.”
Police say the city had two celebratory gunfire incidents over the weekend, according to ABC 6. Officials previously warned residents not to shoot in celebration. (RELATED: Progressive Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner Impeached Amid Rise In Crime)
“What we don’t want you to do is go outside your house recklessly and shoot your gun up in the air,” Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal said, ABC 6 reported. “What goes up must come down.”
“They are stupid. I’m sorry,” Gallagher said, according to ABC 6. “If you’re going to do it, use blanks. If it hit my head, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
Philadelphia recorded a 9% drop in homicides in 2022 in the period ending on Dec. 25 compared to the previous year, according to Philadelphia Police Department statistics. However, nonviolent crime such as theft and burglary increased by nearly 30%.