Girl riding with mom in minivan grazed by pellet gun in South Bay
MORGAN HILL, Calif. (KTVU) - A South Bay mother considers herself lucky after someone shot at her car with a pellet gun. The projectile grazed her daughter's ear. The shooting happened on Santa Teresa Boulevard in unincorporated Morgan Hill.
Grace Oxley has quite the story to tell but it's not the story you want to hear coming from a 7-year-old or any child. The soon-to-be third grader was heading to grandma's house to go swimming in her mom's minivan when the unexpected happened.
“We were all singing and dancing in the car and then we heard this big pop and I took my hand off my ear and there was blood on it,” said Grace Oxley.
At 9:30 a.m., Grace’s mother was driving northbound on Santa Teresa Boulevard in Morgan Hill. Half a mile past Fitzgerald Avenue, she heard what she thought might have been a rock hitting her car.
“I was like what was that,” said Julie Oxley. “I looked back in my rear view mirror and my whole back windshield was shattered.”
A truck driver pulled up and said his vehicle had been hit. It wasn't until after authorities found a mark on the back seat, they realized it was a pellet from a pellet gun.
“I was like you've got to be kidding me,” said Julie Oxley. “I never dreamt that, it would never have come into my mind.”
The projectile grazed Grace’s ear. Grace was sitting in a back seat. Authorities looked in the car for it and found it stuck in Grace’s hair.
“I didn't really know what happened,” said Grace Oxley. “We were going to go swimming and then they shot me.”
Deputies spent the evening talking to property owners. Workers replaced the rear window, costing a few hundred dollars in damage but that’s nothing compared to what could have happened.
“I’m so grateful to God she's okay because it could have been a different story one inch over,” said Julie Oxley.
As for Grace, she's also grateful.
“I’m happy I’m okay,” said Grace Oxley. “It was really close to my head.”
Grace is thankful her four-year-old brother sitting beside her didn't get hurt.
“They shouldn't be shooting at anything except targets,” said Grace Oxley.
“It’s not something you ever think of,” said Julie Oxley. “Of all the things as a mom we are told to be worried about, this is not on my radar.”
The mother wanted to share what happened to catch whoever did this. They still plan to use the road, saying they do not want to live their lives in fear. The sheriff's office said the shooter could face a misdemeanor charge for discharging a BB device.