CBS2 Exclusive: Man Recalls Horrifying Experience After Being Grazed By Stray Bullet Inside LI Apartment
NORTH AMITYVILLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An elderly man was shot while watching television Friday when a stray bullet entered his Long Island home.
Willie Owens, 82, was watching TV around 5 p.m. when the bullet flew through the wall of his apartment complex in North Amityville, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.
Man Grazed By Stray Bullet Inside Long Island Apartment
Police said the bullet went through the wall, then the television set before grazing the side of his head. He suffered minor injuries, Hall reported.
Owens and his friend spoke exclusively to CBS2's Steve Langford.
"All of a sudden we heard this 'blang blang,' like that," Owens said.
Olivia Holcy was sitting beside Owens when the gunfire almost killed him instantly.
"He fell on the floor and said, 'I've been shot,'" she said. "You try not to go out on the street, stay at home, and you still ain't safe."
"Detectives say it would have split my head open," he said.
"And there's always alot of children outside playing. Thank God it was raining outside yesterday," said one neighbor. "(And he's a lucky guy) Very lucky guy. He had angels all over him at that point. Thank God for that."
The neighbor added that the neighborhood is usually very quiet.
"We're all one big happy family over here," she said.
The bullet, investigators believe, came from a shot fired on nearby Coolidge Avenue. It was found lodged in the victim's refrigerator door.
"He was a very lucky guy. Another half-inch to the left we'd probably be having a different story," North Amityville Fire Chief John Harley said.
Owens is now in surprisingly good spirits after his near-miss with a speeding bullet, the scrapes on his head now healing, unlike his sense of outrage, Langford reported.
"I hope they catch who did it," he said.
So far, no arrests have been made.
