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FORT WAYNE – A 2007 Warsaw graduate was struck by a stray bullet Wednesday while she and her husband were leaving Fourth of July festivities in downtown Fort Wayne.
The incident happened at about 11:12 p.m. Wednesday, when Travis, 28, and Kirsten Fatchett Lansaw, 29, both of Columbia City, were in their Jeep Wrangler at the corner of Rudisill Boulevard and Calhoun Street when the vehicle was struck by a falling object. It pierced the hard top of the Jeep, striking Kirsten in the head, Travis wrote this morning to the Times-Union through Facebook.
“At first we thought maybe a firework or firecracker hit our vehicle, until she realized she was bleeding profusely,” he said.
Kirsten described the sound of it as an “ear-piercing pop!” Once she realized she was bleeding, she said she “freaked out” for a second.
“I didn’t know what hit me,” she said.
She then realized that her head didn’t hurt very bad and it was just a lot of blood. She applied pressure with her hands and then a sweatshirt.
They called for an EMS, and medical personnel met them at a Wendy’s on Broadway Street and she was then taken to Lutheran Hospital.
“The people were so nice so that made it less scary with my first time being in an ambulance. They asked me questions and were even joking around a bit,” Kirsten wrote. “As we were pulling up to the hospital, (that) is when I started getting a little more nervous, so I prayed and that kept me calm.”
Authorities believe the bullet grazed her head.
“I actually did not feel too bad, just a little lightheaded from losing the blood,” she said.
Her vitals were good, but she said the worst part was getting the staples without being numbed.
“She feels alright,” Travis, a Fort Wayne native, wrote. “While she has bumps and bruises, we’re thankful to God for watching over her to keep her safe.”
She was discharged from the hospital at 2 a.m. Thursday.
Fort Wayne Police found a hole where the projectile had penetrated the top and hit Kirsten in the head. Travis told the officer he did not see where the bullet had come from.
“I really want people to realize that just because it’s a holiday doesn’t give you the right to shoot a deadly foreign object in the sky without knowing the vicinity of where it will fall. Make good choices,” Travis wrote.
He added, “We really want to get the word out there for awareness so that people know that this isn’t right and innocent people are out there. ”
Kirsten said she felt “alright” today and will get the staples out in 10 days.
“We are thankful to God for watching over both of us to keep us safe,” she said.
Travis wrote that police arrested someone Thursday within three blocks of where Kirsten’s accident happened after that person was shooting a gun in the air.
“I’m hoping they can match the bullet I found to his barrel,” he wrote.
