Published: January 03, 2009 01:46 am      

Girl shot by man celebrating New Year

By MATT THACKER

Matt.Thacker@newsandtribune.com

A 13-year-old girl was spending New Year’s Eve at her aunt and uncle’s house when a bullet fired from another subdivision entered the home and hit her leg.

Floyd County Sheriff Darrell Mills said Troy Brown, 44, may have been celebrating the new year by firing his semi-automatic rifle, but three rounds struck a house along the 3600 block of Dove Circle in New Albany.

Floyd County police received a 911 call at 12:02 a.m. Thursday that a girl had been shot. One bullet went through the window and hit a television, another hit the refrigerator and the third hit the girl’s leg. Police say at least 12 rounds were fired.

Mills said that the shots did not appear to be fired upward, but he said he has no reason to believe Brown was intentionally firing at that house.

“I don’t know if he lost control or what,” he said.

Brown was standing outside his house at 3606 Wabash Ave., which is in Jefferson Gardens, Mills said. Dove Circle is in Chapel View Estates. Only a thin row of trees and several hundred feet separate the two subdivisions.

The girl’s uncle, David Kraft, said his niece — who lives in Louisville — is doing well and should be back in school next week.

The family declined to disclose the girl’s name.

Kelci Kidwell, Kraft’s step-daughter, said the girl is a good friend of hers who spends the night at their house most weekends. She said they were sitting down watching a movie and texting friends when they heard a loud noise.

“It sounded like fireworks. It shook the whole house,” Kidwell said. “Something just hit a big hole in the TV.”

Another bullet struck the girl’s leg.

“She didn’t even scream. She just said, ‘Something hit my leg,’” Kidwell said.

She was taken to Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville and underwent surgery.

Mills said they receive 911 calls reporting gunshots each Fourth of July and New Year. Despite efforts to tell people they cannot fire weapons in subdivisions, some people still believe that they can as long as they are outside the city limits, Mills said.

Brown’s Bushmaster AR-15 rifle was recovered, and Brown admitted firing the shots, he said. He has been charged with class C felony criminal recklessness resulting in bodily injury. He is being held in the Floyd County Jail awaiting his first court appearance.

Mills said that type of rifle is legal, but he did not yet know if Brown had a valid permit.

Kraft said it was the first time in four years they did not host a New Year’s Eve party with at least 20 people. Only six people were at the house when the shooting occurred.

Kraft said that for some reason he was adamant that he did not want a party this year.

“If we had a party, we’d probably be at a funeral right now,” Kraft said. “I’m just very happy no one was killed.”