A four-year-old boy was killed by a falling bullet fired two miles away from where he was attending a church service. Marquel Peters was seated with his parents when the bullet, fired outside as part of New Year celebrations, came through the roof and struck him on the head. The toddler collapsed at the feet of his parents who had no idea what had caused the gaping wound in his head. It was only as doctors tried to save his life that they realised what had happened.
Ballistic experts believe the ammunition came from an AK-47 assault rifle fired more than two miles away from where the child was attending a service at the Church of God of Prophecy in Atlanta, Georgia. Police said it was common for people to fire guns into the air as part of the New Year celebrations even though it is illegal. Marquel’s mother Nathalee told how her son died just 20 minutes into the New Year.
I saw his Nintendo game fall on the floor, and I heard a sound and I heard him scream a little bit,’ she said. ‘I looked around and all I saw was blood coming from his head. It’s so hard. He was my only child.’
Ms Peters wants the person who fired the gun to turn himself in. ‘I want to say to the person responsible for this please come forward or whoever out there knows something about who did this to my son, please come forward and say something. We need justice,’ she said.
Police said it was unlikely the gunman has any idea of the damage he has caused.
Daily Mail
Vocabulary
to struck sy – üt, eltalál valakit
ballistic expert – balélisztikus vizsgálat
ammunition – l?szer
Church of God of Prophecy – Isten próféciájának temploma
to turn himself in – valaki felfedi magát
to come forward – el?lép
AK-47
The AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova) is a selective fire, gas operated assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the 1940s. Design work on the AK began in 1944. The AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces in 1949. The main advantages of the Kalashnikov rifle are its simple design, fairly compact size and adaptation to mass production. It is inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to clean and maintain; its ruggedness and reliability are legendary.
