A Boy Was Hit By A Falling Bullet On New Year's Eve In The US & Yes It Can Actually Happen
He was watching fireworks when the freak accident happened.
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A 10-year-old boy survived a freak accident at a fireworks show on New Year’s Eve when he was hit by a falling bullet.
Fabian Rivera was watching fireworks from his backyard in New Orleans on December 31 when the bullet fell out of the sky and struck him, local station WWLTV reports.
“He was looking at the sky and then we heard like fireworks and then he got off the swing and came crying with blood,” the boy’s cousin, Diana Lopez, told WWLTV.
The bullet went through the boy's upper lip and came out of his lower jaw, leaving him with two broken teeth, WWLTV reports. He was taken to hospital and later released.
The boy said he’s “feeling good” now, although he said the pain was “terrible."
Police believe it was a falling bullet from a celebratory gunshot.
Bullets fired into the air can and do fall back to Earth, and while it’s not very common for them to actually hit someone, it has happened before.
The bullets typically don’t pack the same force that they did when they were fired from a gun, but gravity can still give them enough speed to cause fatal damage, according to a 2004 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It's unclear exactly how often it happens, but there are a few reports each year of people being hit by stray bullets, especially around New Year's Eve.
Police in New Orleans have not identified any suspects in the case, although they did warn people about celebratory gunfire last week.
"Please DO NOT discharge firearms in the air," they wrote on Facebook.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.