A 62-year-old Florida grandfather was hit by a stray bullet that flew through the driver's-side window that had been open only four inches as he drove his granddaughter home from school.
And lived.
The bullet, which was probably shot from miles away, apparently bounced off the man's head and hit the car's windshield, leaving a crack on it.
Walter Santiago had picked up his granddaughter from school early after she felt ill. On their way home, in an area on State Road 54 and Bruce Lane in Wesley Chapel, which is just fields and country, the bullet hit Santiago.
The bullet ricocheted off his head, hit the windshield of his Plymouth Voyager van, and fell at his granddaughter's feet.
"Grandpa, you've been shot!" she shouted.
Santiago claims he heard a loud thud just before being hit, thinking it was a gunshot.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, police investigators believe the shot was unintentional.
The Times then goes on to give this crazy-ass description of why Santiago thought he heard a gunshot:
The bullet had probably traveled some distance, so it's unlikely that what Santiago heard was gunfire. More likely, it was the reverberation of metal hitting his skull.
Gah!
The report says Santiago drove about 60 feet before deciding to stop and assess the situation that he may have just been shot in the head.
He said he felt blood streaming from a wound below his hairline as the girl called 911.
Santiago then called his son and said, "Grab your mother; I've been shot."
Paramedics arrived and gave Santiago medical attention. There they determined that the bullet merely broke the skin but did not penetrate bone.
He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital but was released within hours with some stitches, a bump on his head, and a pretty badass story that he'll be telling for the rest of his life.
The Pasco Sheriff's Office says it's investigating the incident but acknowledged that a dude getting hit by a stray bullet and then having that bullet bounce off him like Superman is pretty rare.
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