On American Independence day, Paulette Thorpe, a 74-year old Durham, North Carolina resident was struck and killed by celebratory gunfire.  According to police, Thorpe was “hit by a stray bullet that someone fired into the air.”

“We were just talking, I was talking to her, we were all conversating, when all of sudden out of nowhere, something came out and hit her kind of in the chest,” said a witness, who was with Thorpe on Saturday night. “We thought it was a bug or something. She jumped and said, ‘damn, something just bit me’.”

“She was quiet, she tend to her own business, but she was always a well-dressed woman,” a friend offered. “She was a very sweet person, very friendly. And I’m going to miss her. I really am.” 

Source: 

Mackenzie Stasko, “Friends Remember Woman Killed by ‘Celebratory Gunfire’ in Durham,” CBS17.com (July 5, 2020).