A four-year-old boy has died after a bullet fired from up to five kilometres away fell through a church roof and struck him in the head.
Marquel Peters was playing a portable video game at the church in Decatur, Georgia, on New Year’s Eve when he suddenly slumped to the ground and began bleeding profusely, US networks report.
His parents sitting next to him had no idea what was happening as they leant down and spotted a gaping wound in his head.
“I saw his Nintendo game fall on the floor, and I heard a sound and I heard him scream a little bit and I looked around and all I saw was blood coming from his head,” Marquel’s mother Nathalee Peters told Channel 2.
It was only after the boy was rushed to hospital that doctors learned the injury had been caused by a bullet.
Marquel died a short time later despite attempts to save him.
Ballistics expert Kelly Fite told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution it appeared the bullet had come from an AK-47.
The bullet could have been fired from as far as 3-km away, she said.
Authorities reportedly believe the bullet may have been fired as part of New Year’s Eve celebrations.
They are yet to make an arrest over the inciden
