A doctor has been killed in his sleep by a stray bullet that hit him in the head as he lay next to his girlfriend in bed.
Gatekeepers News reports that the British doctor, Matthew Willson, was killed in his sleep by a stray bullet fired ‘recklessly’ from a neighbouring apartment complex.
The 31-year-old doctor was staying in an upmarket suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, having flown to America last week to visit his California-born partner Kate Shepard, a physicist and honour roll athlete.
It was gathered that the postdoctoral scientific researcher, from leafy Chertsey just west of London, had only been in the US for two days when he died in the incident, which is still being treated as a homicide.
Police said they were called by Miss Shepard who was ‘rendering aid’ to her boyfriend after he was shot in the head.
Sergeant Jake Kissel of the Brookhaven Police Department said the Police were called at 2 am on Sunday to report the ‘reckless discharge of a firearm’ in an apartment block on Buford Highway and upon getting to the scene, Dr. Willson was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead. Police have not yet arrested anyone but said officers were investigating the death as a homicide.
MailOne reports that the group responsible for the incident were playing with one or more guns and began firing. A bullet was discharged and left Dr. Willson with a single bullet wound after it came through the wall as he slept in bed.
The bullet appears to have flown a distance of at least 800ft (260yds) through a small forest and into the apartment through the bedroom wall.
Sergeant Jacob Kissel told WSB-TV: “This was a senseless act – this was an innocent victim. She and her boyfriend were laying in bed. He was here visiting from England. He was visiting a loved one. He had just flown into the Atlanta area.
“We lean on the public to understand that this is a tragic event, and we hope that they may come forward with any information they may have.”
He also told BBC Radio Surrey: “These two roadways parallel each other and are separated by a woodline.”
He added: “They (police officers) immediately responded to the priority call, the person being shot. That’s where they met with a female caller who was rendering aid to her boyfriend who had been shot in the head.”
It is believed that the incident will further intensify calls to bring the US’ rabid gun culture under control, amid fears of rising firearms violence.
A police spokesman said: “This incident appears to be a random act involving individuals participating in the reckless discharge of firearm(s) which led to the tragic death of Dr. Willson. Dr. Willson was in town from England visiting loved ones his when the incident occurred.”
