Three-year-old boy is shot and injured while two women are killed in a spate of New Year’s Eve celebratory gunfire incidents across the country
January 2, 2020 in News by RBN Staff
- Two women have died and a three-year-old was injured in separate New Year’s Eve celebratory gunfire incidents in three different states
- Philippa Ashford, a 61-year-old nurse, was standing on her Texas driveway watching as her family fired off fireworks just after midnight
- She was fatally struck by a bullet that police believe was a celebratory shot fired from somewhere else in her neighborhood
- Meanwhile, a 31-year-old woman was shot dead at her Ohio home when her boyfriend fired off celebratory gunfire just after midnight
- Police said her 38-year-old boyfriend, who has since been arrested, was ‘popping off’ rounds at the time
- Random gunfire also struck and injured a toddler on New Year’s Eve in a Phoenix backyard but he is expected to survive
- Shooting guns into the air to celebrate the New Year and other holidays is a longstanding practice in some parts of the country
Two women have been killed and a toddler injured in separate New Year’s Eve celebratory gunfire incidents across the country.
Philippa Ashford, a 61-year-old nurse, was standing on her driveway in Harris County, Texas, watching as her family fired off fireworks just after midnight when she was struck by a bullet.
Authorities said she suddenly clutched her body and said: ‘I think I’ve been shot.’
Ashford collapsed on the ground and then died, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office believes it may have been a bullet fired during celebratory gunfire.
Philippa Ashford, 61, was killed by celebratory gunfire while watching New Year’s Eve fireworks in the driveway outside her home in Harris County, Texas, on Wednesday
Shooting guns into the air to celebrate the New Year and other holidays is a longstanding practice in some parts of the country.
‘At this point from our witnesses and seeing at the scene, we believe this may very well be a case of celebratory gunfire somewhere else in the neighborhood,’ Sgt Ben Beall told ABC13 of Ashford’s death.
‘No indication a family member or anyone else in the cul-de-sac was discharging a firearm.’
Investigators have been canvassing the neighborhood for shell casings and interviewing residents to determine where the gunfire originated.
‘I don’t know you can even figure what the odds are,’ Beall said. ‘You’ve got the family together, celebrating the new year and now the matriarch of the family is deceased.’
A neighbor said that Ashford and her family had gone outside after the clock hit 12am and deputies responding to a call about the shooting arrived 10 minutes later.
Investigators are pictured at the scene after the shooting. They are working to determine where the gunfire originated by interviewing residents in the neighborhood
The 61-year-old, who went by the nickname ‘Phil’, had been a nurse at The Menninger Clinic for more than 15 years and managed a team of about 25 other nurses.
She worked in the acute stabilization unit, which is part of the crisis psychiatric branch. Ashford also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.
She was honored with the Texas Nurses Association District 9 Top 25 Outstanding Nurses Award in 2015.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old woman was shot dead in Ohio when her boyfriend fired off celebratory gunfire just after midnight.
The couple, who have not been named by authorities, were celebrating New Year’s at their Cleveland home at the time.
The woman was struck by at least one bullet and later died in hospital.
Police said her 38-year-old boyfriend, who has since been arrested, was ‘popping off’ rounds.
Ashford (right) had been a nurse at The Menninger Clinic for more than 15 years and managed a team of about 25 other nurses
Random gunfire also struck and injured a toddler on New Year’s Eve in a Phoenix backyard.
The three-year-old boy was expected to survive the wound left by a bullet fragment.
Phoenix police Sgt. Mercedes Fortune said officers were looking for whoever fired the shots.
Though it wasn’t immediately clear why the shots were fired, shooting guns into the air to celebrate the New Year and other holidays is a longstanding practice in some places.
In Arizona, the practice became a felony punishable by up to two years in prison after a stray bullet killed a 14-year-old girl in Phoenix.
The measure stiffening penalties was called “Shannon’s Law” after Shannon Smith, who was killed by a stray bullet in 1999.
Since then, police have knocked on doors to warn people about firing guns on holidays. They can also use a system called ShotSpotter, a system that pinpoints the location where a gun has been fired.