Falling Bullet!

[JFB]

there are several more in the NEWS, this one in NC
https://www.wral.com/stray-bullet-that-hit-unc-student-at-first-night-raleigh-could-have-come-from-couple-blocks-away-/18099719/

 

[Rancher Will]

Such an incident is tragic, but "a falling bullet"? The details that seem to be available seems to indicate that the victim was struck by a bullet that was fired, traveling a normal trajectory, from a gun, hitting a victim at a medium distance, perhaps by accident, from a distance of perhaps a few hundred yards or even less.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Same thing happened in North st. Louis. A fireman was standing outside the station when a bullet went through the window in the door next to him.
He said there was no one nearby (the area is nothing but empty lots) and said the bullet had to have come from someone firing into the air-where the bullet landed they did not care.
What I wonder is if there is nothing around why have a fire station?

 

[Colonialgirl]

From the description of the wound; It sounds as if the round had been fired into the air at some place in the vicinity and struck the victim as it returned to earth.

 

[redhawker]

Several years ago Mythbusters did one on the falling bullet "myth". They fired a .45 ACP (if I recall correctly) exactly 90 degrees up into the air. They concluded that the falling bullet wouldn't be able to kill anyone and might not even break the skin. The problem is the way they did it the bullet expended all its momentum before it fell back to earth so it only had gravity to "propel" it back down so it was traveling no faster than a bullet you might drop off a tall building. I wish they would have carried that test further and measured the speed and possible lethality of bullets fires at different angles such as 45 degrees and 33 degrees. I'm betting that these bullets would still be carrying some of their velocity and would be able to inflict wounds such as in the case of the article in the OP. I'm betting that's what happened in this case.

 

[Rancher Will]

Read the report again. "Standing watching", "Hit in the chest". The bullet was not "falling". It was moving in a mostly horizontal path to hit her in the chest while she was standing.

Having investigated a number of shootings, etc., in my career, I also know that the doctor, in this case, treating the wound and extracting the bullet, just as the Coroners do in homicide cases, will closely determine the angle of the bullet entry to determine the angle of bullet trajectory for the police report.

 

[Fox Mike]

Several years ago Mythbusters did one on the falling bullet "myth". They fired a .45 ACP (if I recall correctly) exactly 90 degrees up into the air. They concluded that the falling bullet wouldn't be able to kill anyone and might not even break the skin. The problem is the way they did it the bullet expended all its momentum before it fell back to earth so it only had gravity to "propel" it back down so it was traveling no faster than a bullet you might drop off a tall building. I wish they would have carried that test further and measured the speed and possible lethality of bullets fires at different angles such as 45 degrees and 33 degrees. I'm betting that these bullets would still be carrying some of their velocity and would be able to inflict wounds such as in the case of the article in the OP. I'm betting that's what happened in this case.

This show was on just last week. They fired a 9mm and a 30-06 straight up. Neither would fall back to earth, with enough force, to injure anyone.

 

[blume357]

I do remember reading about the japanese defending islands in the pacific and how they would set up machine guns over and behind a hill a good distance away and sight them in to a certain area like the beach and just wait for a lot of GIs to be on the beach or in that area and then let loose. Could not see where the rounds were coming from but they were effective.

 

[Thumbcocker]

Straight up vs. parabolic trajectory

 

[daveg.inkc]

5 years ago, I was working in a Tool and Die shop in KC, January 2nd, I found a 9MM pistol bullet next to my Kennedy tool box. It dropped from the sky, ripped through metal roof. It would darn sure penetrate a human skull. Not hurt you?

 

[Pal Val]

I've had an experience with a bullet fired in the air. It fell on the tin roof covering a friend's porch, bounced a few times and hit the ground, during a 4th of July celebration. It scared the bejeezes of everyone who noticed, as we were standing there, but it made no mark on the roof. It was a .45 ACP slug. It must have been fired straight up and fallen almost vertically, as the shed it hit had tall walls on the sides and the side of a hill on the back.

I don't shoot up in the air, ever. If I don't know where that bullet is going to hit, I won't shoot it.

 

[Cracker-American]

I have posted this here before. I was in one facet or another of the roofing industry for twenty five years. It was routine to find that falling bullets caused roof leaks. I used to keep a jar full on my desk.

 

[bogus bill]

When I was a kid my dad visited some old friend he grew up with. One of the boys was demonstrating for me how high a arrow could go. It was the first time I seen someone shoot a arrow. He shot the arrow and when it came down it hit a dog square on top of its head! I don't think it killed the dog, it ran off yelping. Another kid yelled out, that's dads best dog! The guy ran for the woods and I didn't see him again!

 

[roarindan51]

I have often wondered about all those 50 cal. machine gun bullets that were fired in WWII dog fights, never heard of anybody getting shot by a round that missed it's target. (and I know most were not over populated areas)

 

[Wyandot Jim]

I have often wondered about all those 50 cal. machine gun bullets that were fired in WWII dog fights, never heard of anybody getting shot by a round that missed it's target. (and I know most were not over populated areas)

Yep me too. Think about all the crap that came from above. Brass, bullets, falling spent flak, all sorts of airplane parts and such. Just think you are sitting down to dinner and a 1000# engine lands in your soup. You never read anything about what it was like.
IMHO a Falling bullet doesn't have any energy left in it. Not a volley/arch fired bullet which is a different situation.

 

[bogus bill]

I think it was in a biography of Erich Hartmann, anyway he or another german pilot on the Russian front strafed a gun position and was shot down in the process. He either parachuted or crash landed at the same event. He was taken prisoner but the Russians were laughing their arse`s off and showed him the cannon or fieldpiece he had hit. A bullet went straight down the barrel of it and had split and peeled the barrel apart like a peeled banana!

 

[redhawker]

I have often wondered about all those 50 cal. machine gun bullets that were fired in WWII dog fights, never heard of anybody getting shot by a round that missed it's target. (and I know most were not over populated areas)

Look up "The Battle of Los Angeles". Back on the early morning of February 25, 1942 anti-aircraft batteries fired over 1400 shells (.50 caliber and 12.8-pound anti-aircraft shells) at something flying over Los Angeles. Some think it was just panic, some think it was a UFO, who know what it was. Point is, for this discussion...

"Several buildings and vehicles were damaged by shell fragments, and five civilians died as an indirect result of the anti-aircraft fire: three killed in car accidents in the ensuing chaos and two of heart attacks attributed to the stress of the hour-long action".

Although no one was killed or injured apparently by the falling rounds and flack there was damage to buildings and vehicles.

 

[Thumbcocker]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazy_Dog_%28bomb%29

 

[daveg.inkc]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazy_Dog_%28bomb%29

WWI saw the use of these things , too. Dropped from open cockpits.

 

[bogus bill]

I bought one or two of them many years ago in a military surplus store. Forgot all about it until now. I haven't seen them in forty or fifty years but maybe still have them in a box in the shed. Nasty little things, aren't they? They likely killed more dogs and cats than humans.