I hate to say this idiot is from my town. This is just the type of thing that the VPC eats up.
Errant bullet nearly hits 2
Police say it missed mother, baby by 2 feet
09/17/04
By Owen Covington
Messenger-Inquirer
A 30-year-old Owensboro woman and her 6-month-old baby narrowly missed being hit by a bullet fired Thursday in the 2500 block of South Griffith Avenue.
Wendi Neal was feeding her child in a back living room of her grandmother's home at 2503 S. Cherokee Drive when a backyard neighbor attempted to shoot an opossum with a 9 mm handgun, police said.
The bullet passed through the back wall of the house and lodged into a kitchen wall, according to Louise McLevaine, Neal's grandmother.
"It was really lucky," said McLevaine, who was in the home at the time. "I don't like to think about what could have happened, (the bullet) came so close."
Belinda Sue Baird, 45, of 2502 S. Griffith Ave. was attempting to run off an opossum that was bothering her dog. About 11:30 a.m., Baird first tried to shoot the animal with a pellet gun, but the gun wouldn't fire, police said.
Baird then retrieved a 9 mm handgun from her home and shot at the opossum, which was perched on a fence in the back yard, according to Officer Doug Esther, spokesman for the Owensboro Police Department.
The bullet struck the opossum but continued into McLevaine's house, Esther said. Baird had never fired a gun before, Esther said.
"We heard this bang, this terrible noise," McLevaine said. "It went right by her chair where she was feeding the baby."
McLevaine said her granddaughter said she felt something fly past her after hearing the noise. Police estimate the bullet missed Neal and her baby by about 2 feet.
"We didn't know what was going on," said McLevaine, who called 911 after seeing the hole in the kitchen wall. "We decided we'd better not go in the back yard."
Baird has been charged with first-degree wanton endangerment, a felony, and is due in court Sept. 29. She was cited by police rather than taken into custody.
"She didn't mean to do it," McLevaine said. "She just didn't think."
Esther said the proximity of other homes is a main reason the city has an ordinance against shooting weapons. Esther also urged that residents who have problems with wild animals call the police or animal control.
"She should have known that discharging this weapon could have caused serious injury or even death," Esther said. "We're just happy no one was injured in this particular case."
http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news/kentucky/7601881.htm
Errant bullet nearly hits 2
Police say it missed mother, baby by 2 feet
09/17/04
By Owen Covington
Messenger-Inquirer
A 30-year-old Owensboro woman and her 6-month-old baby narrowly missed being hit by a bullet fired Thursday in the 2500 block of South Griffith Avenue.
Wendi Neal was feeding her child in a back living room of her grandmother's home at 2503 S. Cherokee Drive when a backyard neighbor attempted to shoot an opossum with a 9 mm handgun, police said.
The bullet passed through the back wall of the house and lodged into a kitchen wall, according to Louise McLevaine, Neal's grandmother.
"It was really lucky," said McLevaine, who was in the home at the time. "I don't like to think about what could have happened, (the bullet) came so close."
Belinda Sue Baird, 45, of 2502 S. Griffith Ave. was attempting to run off an opossum that was bothering her dog. About 11:30 a.m., Baird first tried to shoot the animal with a pellet gun, but the gun wouldn't fire, police said.
Baird then retrieved a 9 mm handgun from her home and shot at the opossum, which was perched on a fence in the back yard, according to Officer Doug Esther, spokesman for the Owensboro Police Department.
The bullet struck the opossum but continued into McLevaine's house, Esther said. Baird had never fired a gun before, Esther said.
"We heard this bang, this terrible noise," McLevaine said. "It went right by her chair where she was feeding the baby."
McLevaine said her granddaughter said she felt something fly past her after hearing the noise. Police estimate the bullet missed Neal and her baby by about 2 feet.
"We didn't know what was going on," said McLevaine, who called 911 after seeing the hole in the kitchen wall. "We decided we'd better not go in the back yard."
Baird has been charged with first-degree wanton endangerment, a felony, and is due in court Sept. 29. She was cited by police rather than taken into custody.
"She didn't mean to do it," McLevaine said. "She just didn't think."
Esther said the proximity of other homes is a main reason the city has an ordinance against shooting weapons. Esther also urged that residents who have problems with wild animals call the police or animal control.
"She should have known that discharging this weapon could have caused serious injury or even death," Esther said. "We're just happy no one was injured in this particular case."
http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news/kentucky/7601881.htm
