Investigators in Independence, Oregon, are seeking the public’s help after a 2-year-old was struck in the leg by a falling bullet while leaving a July Fourth celebration.
They believe the bullet likely fell from the sky after someone fired into the air.
The child received medical treatment and is expected to make a full recovery, the Independence Police Department said in a statement Friday. The city of 10,000 is about 12 miles southwest of Salem.
The parents were pulling their toddler in a wagon to the family car about 10:30 p.m. after watching holiday fireworks when the child began to scream for no apparent reason, police said.
The parents noticed a puncture wound on the 2-year-old’s leg and drove to the hospital, where doctors determined the injury had been caused by a bullet, police said. The family was on Monmouth Street at the time the child was hurt, police said.
Police asked anyone with information about a person firing a gun into the air around that time and area to contact Sgt. Lyle Gilbert at gilbert.lyle@ci.independence.or.us or at 503-837-1107.
