As the clock struck midnight on New Years eve, 61-year old Philippa Ashford was struck and killed by a stray bullet in Harris County, Texas.  Police believe that the round was fired in celebration of the new year by an unidentified person in the neighborhood.  The shooter was not a member of Ms. Ashford’s family.

Ashford was a nurse and manager in the crisis psychiatric unit at the Menninger Clinic in Houston. According to witnesses, Ms. Ashford suddenly fell to the ground screaming that she had been shot.  She died at the scene.

“I don’t know you can even figure what the odds are,” a representative of the Sheriff’s office said. “You’ve got the family together, celebrating the new year and now the matriarch of the family is deceased.”

Source:

“Texas Woman Dies After Being Shot by Possible ‘Celebratory Gunfire’ On New Year’s Day,” 11/21 CBS News Dallas Fort Worth, (January 1, 2020).