74-year-old man grazed in abdomen by stray bullet in Connecticut

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Tuesday, June 28, 2022
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BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut (WABC) -- Police are searching for a gunman who grazed a 74-year-old bystander as he sat outside in Connecticut Monday afternoon.

The gunfire rang out on the 300th block of Connecticut Avenue in Bridgeport just after 12:30 p.m., with one of the bullets hitting Gitten Pettway more than a block away.

It was a freak ricochet, and Pettway miraculously only has to wear a band aid over the wound.

"It was burning," he said. "I said, 'Oh I'm hit,' so then I fell back in my chair."

He was hanging out with some friends and family at the time.

"It just seemed like a freak thing," his cousin, Nelson Pettway said. "They were all the down on the next street shooting. I don't know why the bullet all the way up here."

Pettway was taken to the hospital to be checked out, and was treated and released.

"I came outside and I looked, and he was standing there waiting for the ambulance," store owner Devin Smith said. "Ambulance came right away, police were here instantly, and that's how it went down."

On Tuesday afternoon, Pettway he was back at same spot, enjoying the nice weather. He said he feels lucky to be alive.

"Yes, I feel blessed," he said. "Yes. What if it had been a little bit more to the right? It would've been in the middle of my stomach. So it just grazed me on the side."

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is active and ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bridgeport police at 203-576-TIPS.

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