Bronx

73-Year-Old Woman Struck by Stray Bullet While Going to Vote in Bronx

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A 73-year-old woman became another bystander-turned-victim of the city's gun violence, as she was struck by a stray bullet in the Bronx as she was on her way to vote in Tuesday's primaries, she said.

The woman was sitting on a bench right in front of her home in the Belmont section in the afternoon when the burst of gunfire shattered the windows of an apartment building, sending families ducking for cover. Police said that one or more people started shooting at a group just after 4 p.m.

One of the bullet struck the woman as she was waiting outside for a ride to the polling station.

"My girlfriend was coming down, we were going to vote. And all of the sudden I heard a shot and I hollered, 'I am shot,' ‘cause I felt my leg," she told NBC New York in a phone interview. The bullet hit her in the left ankle, and she was traumatized by the shooting which caught her by surprise.

"I went to the floor and started crawling, bleeding so bad. I put pressure on it and other people tried to help me, and a guy tied up my leg to stop some of the bleeding," said the woman, who did not wish to be identified.

The bullet holes in the building's exterior and windows were still readily visible on Wednesday. A couple who lives on the second floor said the bullets narrowly missed one of their daughters in her bedroom.

"She threw herself to the floor and felt the glass hitting her when she was on the floor," the girl's mother said.

The family ducked down, hiding in a hallway. They later took photos of the bullet holes, and found bullet fragments in their home.

"It was just overwhelming to see, and then how close it actually hit the apartment," the mother said. "If my daughter was any closer to the window, she would not be here right now."

Investigators said that the shooters, of which they said there were at least two, were targeting a group standing outside the apartment complex, but the circumstances and motive for the shooting was not immediately clear.

No arrests have yet been made. An investigation is ongoing.

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