Seattle girl escapes serious injury when glasses deflect bullet

[December 23, 2013]  By Jonathan Kaminsky

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) — A teenage girl avoided serious injury when her glasses deflected a bullet fired during a drive-by shooting at her Seattle home, police said on Sunday.

The 16-year-old girl was asleep on her living room couch at about 9:40 p.m. on Saturday (0540 GMT on Sunday) when shots were fired from a dark-colored sedan as it passed her house, Seattle police spokesman Detective Mark Jamieson said.

Several bullets went through the walls of the house and one through the front window, Jamieson said. One of the bullets struck the bridge of the teen's glasses, Jamieson said.

She suffered only minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital, he added.

"She is very, very fortunate," Jamieson said.

Several other people were at the house at the time of the shooting, but no other injuries were reported, Jamieson said.

Police believe the house was targeted in what was likely a gang-related shooting, but the girl was not the intended victim. No arrests have been made in the shooting and the police gang unit was investigating, Jamieson said.

Jamieson said police do not know how many people were involved in the shooting.

(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky; editing by David Bailey)

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