LAKE MARY, Fla. — A Lake Mary woman is urging others not to fire celebratory gunshots into the air to ring in the New Year.
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Katherine Wilson said she remembered the night, just twenty minutes before 2023, when a stray bullet from an unknown location hit her in the face on New Year’s Eve.
“I mean, a quarter of an inch to the right, it could have been my brain, been my eye, so I was just extremely fortunate that it wasn’t worse than it was,” said Wilson.
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Wilson said she was at a neighbor’s house to bring in the New Year when she, some friends, and her husband were sitting in the backyard, and suddenly she felt something hit her face.
“I actually thought I was hit by a firework,” said Wilson.
She was hit with a 40-caliber bullet near her temple, which became lodged in her jaw.
She was rushed to the hospital by friends and has physically recovered but wants people to learn from her story not to shoot in the air to celebrate.
“People may underestimate how far a bullet travels when they shoot it into the air,” said Wilson. “The police believe that this could have come from as far as two miles away.”
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Wilson said police said the bullet was indeed from someone shooting to celebrate the New Year, but the origin location of the bullet was a big mystery.
“Even if somebody thinks that they are being innocent and shooting it up in the air near a field or a lake, it can really travel much further and impact somebody that’s a significant distance away,” said Wilson.
Throughout social media, police have been urging people not to shoot in the air and reminding them of the consequences behind it if caught.
In Florida, anyone who recklessly or negligently shoots a firearm outdoors on any property could face charges from a misdemeanor to a felony.
This year, Wilson plans to celebrate the New Year inside with her family safely.
She wants people to look at her story and learn that celebratory shootings can affect the lives of innocent people and the person behind the trigger if caught.
“If I were to talk to somebody who thought this was a smart idea, I would let them know the consequences of it, and so you know it could kill someone,” said Wilson.
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