A Sunshine woman who was wounded by a stray bullet last week is recovering at home, as police urge the perpetrator to come forward.
Deborah Smith, 56, suffered a surface wound to her left arm when she was hit by a bullet after poking her head over the back fence of her McIntosh Road house to investigate loud noises from a nearby reserve about 5pm on January 9.
She was taken to Sunshine hospital, but the wound did not require stitches.
“Now I feel all right – just nervous,” Mrs Smith said the next day. “I feel very, very lucky.”
Russell, Mrs Smith’s husband, said it was lucky the incident was not more serious.
“She heard the bangs, which is not an uncommon thing out the back, with fireworks and things like that,” he said.
“Couldn’t see nothing through the crack in the back fence, so she got up on the dog kennel, didn’t hear nothing, as she was getting down, that’s when whatever it was hit her in the arm.
“We need to catch these people … if it happens again, the next people might not be so lucky.”
Neighbours said they heard a number of gun shots coming from the nearby reserve, which runs alongside Kororoit Creek behind Mrs Smith’s home.
Police searched the reserve following the incident, but were unable to find any shells or shrapnel.
They say Mrs Smith was the victim of a random shooting and was not specifically targeted. They are now appealing for witnesses, and the gunman, to come forward.
“If anyone was in the Kororoit Creek area at the time, they should come forward with any information they have,” Detective senior constable Megan McMullen said.
