Posted on 01/01/2010 4:46:43 PM PST by rawhide
A 4-year-old boy attending a New Year's Eve church service with his family was killed when a stray bullet came through the roof, hitting him in the head.
The boy, Marquel Peters, was sitting beside his mother in the sanctuary during an intermission, said Lloyd Phipps, senior pastor at the Church of God of Prophecy near Decatur.
About 350 people were gathered in the DeKalb County church on Covington Drive, waiting for a concert to begin at 12:30 a.m. Friday, Phipps said.
"We heard a loud pop, which we now assume was when the bullet came through the roof," Phipps said.
The child, who had been playing a video game moments before the incident, fell to the floor.
"He appeared to be unconscious at first, and then he started crying," Phipps said.
Phipps said the church members prayed for the child, and continued with the planned concert, believing the child would survive his injury.
The child was rushed to a hospital, where he later died, according to Officer Jason Gagnon with DeKalb police.
The pastor and the parishioners where still in the church when they learned of the child's death about 3:30 a.m., Phipps said. He said during the concert, the boy's family kept him updated on the child's condition, which he believed was improving.
Investigators returned to the church later Friday, where they discovered the point of entry for the bullet: in the roof of the church. Phipps said police believe someone fired a celebratory shot into the air, and it went through the roof on its way down.
"It's one of those things that you just cannot make any sense out of," Phipps said. "This lady took her kid to church, which is the right thing to do. And her son got killed because of someones irresponsible behavior."
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
looked like proof to me bullet goes up bullet comes down landed sideways in the dirt not enough speed to kill. they used all size guns and ammo.
Pure horseshit.
2 degrees off plumb is still going to result in a bullet losing it’s spin, tumbling, and falling at terminal velocity. And if it does somehow manage to maintain spin, it’s going to fall ass end first and slightly cocked...not very aerodynamic and not a very good terminal velocity.
Dear God, prayers for the boy and his family.
You know nothing about fire arms and bullets pal.
You know nothing about fire arms and bullets pal.
It must have been. I concur.
Something about a spent bullet going through a roof doesn’t pass the smell test.
It’s much better to fire into a backstop - which is how my dad always manages matters when he lets off a celebratory .348 Winchester round or two at the New Year. Doesn’t everybody have a proper range backstop in the back yard? Never mind, I know the answer. But if you’re going to shoot anything more lethal than No. 9 shot, you’d better.
Ignorance is a sad thing. Have you ever been in a fire fight or near one? Also, idiots who shoot guns into the air do it in an angle; not straight up.
That’s horrible. I’m glad you were not one of those documented deaths!
Prayers for this precious little one’s family! Unthinkable!
You have to be more than just a couple of degrees off to have any likelyhood of injury.
The speed of the bullet in the vertical direction will never be enough to kill someone, unless you get very unlucky. It is improbable that the vertical speed was enough to get through the roof of the church.
And the horizontal speed is a function of the angle. To use round fake numbers, if the bullet is fired at 1000 feet per second, but at a 45-degree angle, it will only be going 700 feet per second horizontally. At an 80-degree angle, the horizontal speed wouldn’t be enough to do serious damage, or get through a roof normally.
I think it more probably that the shot was relatively horizontal, but was deflected when it hit the roof, projecting downward at a high velocity.
Of course, you could get unlucky, and the bang to the head could have caused internal damage — did the story say the bullet actually penetrated his head?
Twenty years ago, our next door neighbor who parks outside, came out on New Years morning and found a big ole bullethole in the hood of his car.
mymy so sad pray for the family
The bullet came through the roof? No way a bullet traveling at terminal velocity can go through a roof. None.
"the church members prayed for the child, and continued with the planned concert, believing the child would survive his injury."
I think there is more to this story...
How tragic. What a nice smile and an adorable young man.
No...it had to be in the roof of the church BUILDING, since the church is made up of people; therefore, does not have a roof.
Ohhhhhh, how awful. Prayers for that family.
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