BRIDGEPORT -- The five-year-old girl who was struck by a stray bullet Sunday night in Bridgeport was attending a family birthday party.
Her great-uncle, Nayif Kalash of Bridgeport, said there were several children celebrating Sunday night inside the apartment at the corner of Colorado and Maplewood Avenues. That bullet came through a window sill and into the living room around 11pm.
Kalash said at first many in the room thought the sound of gunfire was the sound of a birthday balloon popping.
"I think balloon. I don't understand it's gun," said Kalash. "Then we see bleeding. The father said, 'Look!' and we see the bleeding."
The little girl was struck in her hand and the bullet fractured her index finger. She and her parents are from New Jersey and were visiting their family in Bridgeport. She was awaiting surgery Tuesday afternoon at St. Vincent's Hospital.
Kalash said they ran outside after they called police, but couldn't see where the bullets had come from.
"After call police, we come here, here, here. We look and we don't see somebody," he said.
Kalash said he has lived there for years and never had any problems before.
Bridgeport Police say a 73-year-old man who was working on a car outside on Maplewood Avenue was a victim of the shooting as well. The bullet grazed the back of his head and he is expected to recover.
Police believe both victims were unintended targets.
Police found a bullet inside the home and are gathering surveillance video from the area.
They continue to search for the shooter(s), but say they have reason to believe the people or person responsible are not from the neighborhood or possibly even the city.