GRANT COUNTY — The incredible story of a Grant County man who dodged a bullet and lived to tell a cautionary tale. Police called what happened a one-in-a-million experience.
"A bullet kinda grazed my skin. It did. As soon as I felt it on my arm I heard the glass break," Tony Miner, said. "And I said that's too strange."
Too strange and too scary.
The bullet apparently traveled nearly half a mile. It hit the kitchen wall, the ceiling, and came to rest on the floor.
This is a photograph of the bullet taken by police investigators:
It apparently was fired from an AR-15 rifle that a neighbor was using during a target practice session.
Miner's wife was in the dining room when the bullet struck. There were people siting all around the table.
She called 911, and a day after it happened, is still shaken up about the errant bullet that could have been deadly.
"Not worried just grateful that it wasn't. It was just a tiny red mark. But it could have been so much different," Cathy Miner said. "But I'm grateful that it's not. Grateful that it's not."
Police took the AR-15 and a 45 caliber handgun away from the neighbor who fired the shots, from way in the distance, beyond trees.
Prosecutor will determine if any criminal charges will be filed. The neighbor is able to petition the court to get the guns back.
Police have advice for target shooters:
"You should have enough dirt, or sand, or obstacles to stop the bullet. If you don't, you are responsible for that bullet wherever it goes," Capt. Todd Fleece, Grant County Sheriff's Department, said. "Once it leaves the barrel its yours. You need to use common sense and really be safe."
Police also had advice for Miner:
"Tonight you should say an extra prayer and buy a lottery ticket because this is a once-in-a-million experience," Miner said police told him. "The bullet made it through the trees across the field, not hit the trailer, or our out building, and come in an open door and just happen to brush by me and bounce around the kitchen. One-in-a-million."
That bullet did not have his name on it.
