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Crime

21st Jan 2022

Brit doctor visiting US killed by stray bullet while lying in bed

Danny Jones

British doctor killed in US shooting

He was just 31-years-old

A British doctor has been shot while visiting America after a stray bullet struck him while he was lying in his bed.

As reported by local Atlanta-based news outlet, 11Alive – the city in which the incident took place – Dr Matthew Wilson from Chertsey, Surrey was simply lying in bed when a stray round was fired into the building during the night.

Police were called to two different apartment complexes in Brookhaven on Sunday, a Georgia suburb to the northeast of Atlanta; the first was after multiple calls informing them shots had been fired, the latter to report that a man had been shot.

Officers arrived at the 3100 block of Clairmont Road to find Wilson in need of urgent treatment after he had suffered a single gunshot wound to the head. He was then rushed to the hospital but later died of his injuries.

Brookhaven apartment block - Atlanta shooting of British doctor

Authorities have described the shooting as “a random act involving individuals participating in the reckless discharge of a firearm” and no suspect has yet been identified.

Wilson is said to have been over in the US visiting loved ones. While there is much still to be investigated, police maintain their belief that the gun was fired accidentally.

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