Two college students at different universities were hit by stray bullets within a week
Two unrelated incidents of college students hit by stray bullets within a week have left students and their families on edge over campus safety at colleges across the country.
The shootings near different campuses involved one student out for a jog and another walking to class. One died and one survived in the latest violence that has raised questions over security near college campuses.
Additionally, a Secret Service agent fired her gun while protecting President Biden’s granddaughter in the Georgetown area, and Temple University administrators continue to grapple with ways to protect students amid violence in north Philadelphia streets.
“Recently, there have been innocent people who were going about their day and minding their own business when they were injured by stray bullets,” retired Reno Police Lt. Joey Walker told Fox News Digital. “Those innocent people were not the intended targets of the person firing the gun, but nevertheless became victims.“
Most of these incidents — particularly stray-bullet shootings — are tucked into a catch-all category of “unintentional” gun violence in statistics provided by major national sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that’s been tracking gun violence in real time since 2013.
“Unintentional” gun violence accounted for about 1-2% of gun deaths in 2022, and 37% of gun-related injuries, according to the CDC and Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.
There’s little research on this topic. A 2012 study that analyzed “stray bullet incidents” from March 1, 2008, to Feb. 28, 2009, is often cited.
The study found 81% of people hit by stray bullets “were unaware of the events leading to the gunfire that caused their injuries.”
That was the case Nov. 7, when Belmont University student Jillian Ludwig, 18, went for an afternoon run near her school and a stray bullet hit her in the head.
The alleged shooter, Shaquille Taylor, had been in jail earlier this year, and the local prosecutor said three doctors found him mentally incompetent to stand trial, meaning he couldn’t be prosecuted and was set free.
By Chris Eberhart
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